Salon Breaks Ground with A New England First

It wasn't long ago that Luisa Garcia thought about calling it quits on her salon business altogether.

Frustrated with her location, which was causing her to lose employees and clients, she knew that Soleil Salon & Spa was on a bad path toward closing down.

"I was done by last year in May," Garcia said. "Are you closing it? Are you selling it? What are you going to do?"

What Garcia did was develop a business plan for a new location, one that didn't force customers to wind up an icy slope of an entrance in the winter, that is if they could find the place at all.

She said that no matter what she did with her sign, the place was hard to spot, tucked back into the trees on Haverhill Road.

With the help of local commercial realtor Ralph Valentine, Garcia made May 2012 for her business a complete flip of the switch from May 2011.

She was able to relocate her business to the Castle Commons plaza on Range Road, which offered her more space to let her ideas spring forward.

Start with her "blow dry bar" concept, which is entirely unique to New England and is commonly seen in big cities like Los Angeles and New York.

The menu for the bar is literally designed like a cocktail menu, only the drinks are hair styles.

The Sleek Sangria is listed as "sleek and smooth hair – (the) ultimate shine." 

The Runaway Shot is the signature of Soleil, allowing customers to feel like they have the hair of a runway model.

It was an idea that Garcia did her research on, and it all wraps in to the fresh experience of the establishment.

Exploring the new space, every room has a hidden secret, from the couples massage area to the glass bowl light therapy room. 

She said that she heard clients telling her all of the time that they wanted to go to this island or that island for vacation, so it brought up a question for her.

"What if I create a salon that looks like sort of a resort?," Garcia asked herself.

So the approach to designing her new location was born, and with it 15 new employees including nail technicians and hair dressers.

When Garcia was first shown Castle Commons, Valentine gave her a tour of the property next door, which is much larger. He was able to bring her back to show her the current Soleil location, which she finally opened last month.

The growth of Castle Commons is set to continue,

The prospect is great for Garcia, who said that she is happy about the increased foot traffic that the medical businesses will bring to the plaza.

As for the first full month of being open, she said that there have been nothing but good returns.

"We're closing nice and strong – I'm very excited with how it's turned out," Garcia said.