European Wax Center Excels in Merrick

Ten years ago, Merrick native Natanyah Menna could have never imagined she would be operating her very own business in her Long Island hometown.

European Wax Center, a national franchise that was first founded 12 years ago, opened its doors to Merrick in December of 2010, and according to Menna, in six short months, the wax-only facility has surpassed other franchise locations in prosperous cities like Las Vegas and Los Angeles.

Menna, a 2001 graduate of Calhoun, grew up in Merrick and moved to South Florida after high school to pursue a career in culinary arts at Johnson and Wales University, but after taking a job at European Wax Center, her plans quickly changed.

"I fell in love with everything about it – the product, the passion, the people, the fact that it brings confidence to women," Menna said of the company.

After working in the Fort Lauderdale, Fla., center for more than one year, Menna collaborated with David Coba, her current business partner and European Wax Center co-founder, to open up their own location.

"I always thought of Merrick," she explained. "I used to work in hair salons here and I knew there would be loyal customers. Now, out of 190 locations, we are the fastest growing location the company has ever seen."

Following the business duo to New York was their co-worker, friend and now manager of the Merrick location, Erika Ramirez, who according to Menna, has made this venture as successful as it is.

"I am so lucky to have her, not only in my life, but here as my manager," Menna said. "She's very young, and handles the responsibility of running the store and the staff, and not just any store, but our fastest growing franchise location."

Although Menna said a vast majority of their support does comes from the Merrick community, the center's clientele travels from places as far as Queens, Long Beach, Oceanside, Levittown and eastern parts of Long Island and after one visit, most patrons commit to the center.

At European Wax Center, clients are offered state-of-the-art hair removal that goes above and beyond a typical salon and spa. A wide range of services are available for both men and women at affordable prices and are performed by professionally certified staff.

"We specialize in waxing, that's all we do," said Menna. "We have a specially-made, exclusive wax from Paris that uses no strips."

The non-strip wax formula allows a quicker wax time along with less pain and irritation when the process is complete. For women and men, face and body waxing services are available including lip, eyebrow, nose, neck, cheeks, arms, back, bikini, underarm, chest, hands, legs, Brazilian, stomach, toes and shoulders. Men's rates generally run slightly higher than women's, but European Wax Center offers great packages to save in advance and every new client receives their first wax for free.

European Wax Center also carries a large selection of specialty skin care and eyebrow care products for their clients to use at home like body wash, lotion, hair serum and exfoliate.