To celebrate its 40th anniversary, Reflections West Salon in Peterborough is hosting an open house Feb 4. from 4 to 7 p.m. where food and drinks will accompany a gift basket giveaway.
Established in 1986, the salon was originally located in West Peterborough before moving in 1995 to its current location near Ocean State Job Lots in Peterborough Plaza, according to owner Sharon Dion.
“While growing up, my mother owned a beauty shop in Dublin,” Dion said. “I took business classes in high school and went to a beauty school in 1973.”
In her early years as a professional hair dresser, to augment her pay Dion worked additional jobs such as house cleaning. After a little over a decade, she decided to start her own business.
“One day in the 1980s, the original owner of the salon I worked at sold the business. The new owner decided she didn’t like me, so I left to start my own business,” she said.
Dion mentioned the struggles she faced when starting the business. “I went to three separate banks and not a single one would let me take a loan out without a male co-signer.” In those days, she said it was uncommon for women to receive business loans.
It wasn’t until she went to Peterborough Savings Bank that the bank president was willing to take a chance on her. She convinced him that she already had an established clientele and she just needed a chance to get the business up and running. “He followed through and gave me a $14,000 loan. The salon was open two weeks later on February 4th, 1986.”
Dion said business in West Peterborough was good, but after nearly a decade, she opted to move to a more heavily trafficked area.
“In order to have a successful business I was always told the three things you need nearby are a grocery store, a drugstore and a department store,” she said. “Peterborough Plaza had an A&P supermarket, Dyer’s Drug Store and Ames Department Store. I moved into what used to be Tiffany’s Salon.”
Dion and her staff listed a number of reasons why the salon has stayed in business for so long.
“The location has great exposure,” said Deb Pelkey, an advanced hair color expert.
“When I first started working here 18 years ago, Sharon and I just clicked,” she said. “The salon has great customer service, and a quiet atmosphere. It’s like an oasis.”
The salon’s dedicated clientele often use it to decompress. “It’s a quiet zone,” she said.
“Each client should come in and feel like they’re our first customer ever,” added Dion. “We want to be the salon of choice.”
Both Dion and Pelkey made it a point to mention that actor James Whitmore did business at the salon in the past.
Dion credits her clientele for the business surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. “We shut down completely for eight weeks. When we opened back up, people didn’t come to get there hair done, it was all pedicures,” she said. “We were using shower curtains as shields while doing the pedicures. We were fortunate to receive very generous donations from some longtime clients.”
Pelkey said the salon’s cleanliness helped as well. “People knew our salon was clean. Some would call and ask if the staff were vaccinated before coming in.”
It was a year before customers started getting their hair done again Dion said.
Advertising has also played a big role in the salon’s resilience. “COVID made us realize we needed to branch out. We started a Facebook page and engaged in email marketing to promote the business during the pandemic,” Dion said. “We needed to keep up with the times.”
In addition to the salon, Dion also runs an online hair stylist training course. “In 2006, my husband and I launched an online program focused on training aspiring hairstylists,” she said, adding that Inspirational Salon Management Association (ISMA), or isma.edu, was one of the first online platforms designed to train stylists.
“My granddaughter was one of the guinea pigs,” Dion said.
As the newest staff member at Reflections West, Dion’s granddaughter Aly Turner is the third generation of stylists in the family.
“I started working at the salon six months ago,” she said. “My situation is unique in that I grew up in hair salons. We’d have Thanksgiving dinners here.”
“I graduated from beauty school in 2017, but took a hiatus due to life events,” Turner said. Before starting at the salon, she used ISMA’s course to refamiliarize herself with styling. She found it very helpful and told Dion she wanted to help market it to increase its prominence.
Reflections West Salon is at 19 Wilton Road #21 in Peterborough Plaza, and is open Wednesday through Sunday.