’Twas the week before Christmas when a local salon manager learned that the shop she managed would soon be shuttered, and she and her staff let go.
The franchise owners of Great Clips in Clover Mall met with manager Corinne Dziesiuta in mid-December to let her know that they planned to close the store. Dziesiuta surprised herself by deciding to start a new business and keep the doors open, preserving three jobs in the process — including her own.
“When they told me that they were forgoing their security (deposit) and leaving everything behind, I said, ‘Can I have the landlord’s number?’ It was so spontaneous. There was no thinking process really. When the girls came in to work that morning, I told them what I was thinking.”
“The girls,” A.K.A. stylists Natalie Reszler and Linda Colon, said they were on board. That morning, they all started talking to customers to get their feedback. “They said, ‘Yeah, we come here for you guys, not because it’s a Great Clips,’” Dziesiuta says. “They were super supportive. So later that day, I called the landlord.”
Dziesiuta, a Trenton native and Ewing resident, came up with a name for the new business, incorporated a new limited liability corporation and agreed with the landlord on a new leasing agreement. Great Clips closed on Dec. 28, and by Jan. 2, the new Jersey Style Hair Studio was open.
She made every effort to minimize downtime because she figured that customers who stopped by while the lights were out might be lost forever. She had to erase every sign and symbol that indicated that it had been a Great Clips shop before she reopened, starting with the storefront.
She went to Future Signs on Bow Hill Avenue “in tears” to see if they could make her a new sign. “Even though it was right around the holidays, they were so supportive and accommodating,” she says. “The store closed on a Wednesday, and they made sure they were here that Thursday putting the new sign up.”
Dziesiuta enlisted friends and family to help clean, repaint and redecorate the store in preparation for reopening. She decided to offer all the same services as before at the same prices.
Response from customers has been amazing, she says. “I was so worried, because we only had that one week to relay to customers that this was happening,” she says. “But now customers come in, they see that it’s the same staff, so they are super supportive. New customers, old customers, the support and the love has been amazing and I can’t be more grateful for that.”
A grand opening celebration is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 4 from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Jersey Style Hair Studio, 3100 Quakerbridge Road, Hamilton. Phone: (609) 631-7474.
