Two Garden City Businesses Build Relationship

Salon Imperiale owner Gino Imperiale upgraded to a larger location at 668 Franklin Avenue and opened for business on June 1. Imperiale’s aim with the new location was to update the decor to give off an edgy and clean vibe for clients.

Along with new paint colors and a more open and modern space and decor, the nine pieces of artwork hanging around the salon give off an edgy, upscale feel. Imperiale along with colorist Trish Apostolides turned to another local business to help complete their makeover.

“Gino was opening, he came in and told me about the new style and he sent Trish over,” said Patrick, owner of Sunflower Fine Arts. “We asked what kind of look he was going for the space, what the feeling he was trying to create there was.”

Sunflower Fine Arts has been at 172 Seventh Street for seven years, and has contributed art to the cleaners, Joseph & Joseph and La Nonna Bella, among other Seventh Street businesses.

“He wanted to make it a little more modern, more like an upscale New York City salon. Trish, who was really important in this process, she came in and we looked through catalogs and discussed things back and forth,” Patrick said.

The whole process, according to Patrick, took a few weeks - from selecting the artwork, to stretching the images and sending someone over to install the art all over the salon.

“She wanted it to look clean, a little bit funky and a little bit cutting edge,” he said.

Imperiale is extremely pleased with the artwork, which appears behind the front register, over the mirrors and chairs and toward the back hair dryers. According to Imperiale, clients have taken a liking to the art as well. Apostolides agrees that it adds to the modern vibe they were hoping to bring.

“Art is so important, it’ll change everything,” Patrick said. “It’s hard to describe it until people see it up on their wall, they realize that it's worth ten times the amount they pay for it because of what it does to the space.”

Forming good relationships with surrounding local businesses can produce great benefits.“Now I get my hair cut there, I hadn’t before,” Patrick said.

Even though Salon Imperiale has been open for business since June 1, Imperiale stated that a grand opening is hopefully coming within the first few weeks of October.