SIDNEY — Beauticians Alex Eisenhardt and Heather Lengerich are co-owners of the Shear Luxe salon, a company that is thriving in the post-COVID-19 salon closures mandated earlier this year.
Following the end of the mandate, they held a ribbon cutting event attended by Mayor Mike Barhorst and Shelby County Commissioner Julie Ehemann as part of their one-year anniversary celebration.
Their customers were anxious to return.
“After the COVID closures, the one good thing that happened for us is that we’ve been extremely busy. Clients are saying ‘I’m never going without getting my hair done again like I did during the pandemic, when the state required salons to close,’” said Eisenhardt.
For Eisenhardt and Lengerich, the decision to open their own business and situate it in Sidney was a concept they had considered for some time.
“Alex and I live in Sidney and have been working in this industry here for 13 years. We are both mothers of three children, so in order to have the flexibility to continue working and spending time with our kids, we decided to open our own business,” said Lengerich. “Sidney is close to home, and being close to our kids was an important factor for us. We love our community and do a lot of volunteer work here, so we felt Sidney would be a great location.”
Selecting a location in in the Vandemark Center adjacent to Sherwin Williams and Hemm’s Glass, (at 1670 Gleason St.) also proved to be a good choice. The pair said they find their neighboring business owners to be friendly. They have also been able to network with at least one nearby company to try to help grow their business — and grow it has.
“Alex and I opened the store for business on Aug. 15, 2020, and over the past several months we’ve expanded our staff so that there are now five employees,” said Lengerich.
“We will possibly have another intern starting soon. Most of our girls are from the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School, but we accept certified graduates from any program in Ohio. We didn’t initially plan to train young girls out of beauty school, but we both found it is something we enjoy,” added Eisenhardt.
The salon also holds giveaway events, having just concluded their one-year giveaway, where Angie Frantom was the winner of $200 worth of Lanza Keratin Healing Oil products.
As new staff, with various specializations, join the salon, the types of services the salon offers continues to increase.
“Some of our most popular hair services include balayage, baby lights, highlights, and color melts. We’re also starting to do spa-related services like microblading, facials, and hair extensions,” said Eisenhardt
While it is important that new staff bring in needed skills, all of the staff attend classes led by an external trainer to improve their techniques and to learn about new products. Two weeks ago, for example, they learned about new balayage techniques, as well as L’anza’s new organic product line that was just launched and is now available to customers.
People from all of the nation attend the big, three-day L’anza hair show in Las Vegas from Feb. 20-22. This year, three from the Shear Luxe salon will be attending their trainings, helping to add to the existent sentiment often expressed by their customers that their salon is comparable to those in larger cities like Columbus.
“It’s a high end, luxury experience, without the high-end price,” said Lengerich.
Visit their website at shear-luxe.business.site and view their clients’ new hair styles on their Instagram page shearluxe1670.
