When the building which housed Catwalks Salon on Meeker Street burned down more than two years ago, it left not only a hole in the landscape of the block, but a hole in the hearts of the women who called the salon home.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was like losing my first-born,\u201d said Janine Lang-Badgley, former owner of Catwalks. \u201cI think I cried for two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was the team of stylists working together that made the salon unique, said Danay Mims, who was part of the group. But after the fire, that team broke up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were dispersed a little bit around the area,\u201d Mims said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all kind of got shuffled around,\u201d said Heidi Bourne, who also worked at Catwalks at the time of the fire.<\/p>\n
The girls who worked together stayed in touch and took every opportunity they could to get together – weddings, baby showers, the anniversary of the fire – but they had to find work at other salons around the area.<\/p>\n
The thought of putting the group back together, however, was never far from anyone\u2019s mind.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always wanted to get back together. We had such a great thing,\u201d Mims said.<\/p>\n
This summer, they finally had their opportunity. Rising from the ashes of Catwalks like a phoenix – and almost directly across the street from the vacant lots where the building used to stand – Bourne and Mims have opened Styles on Meeker Salon. They\u2019ve also set to work gathering the group they lost.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe decided if we build it, they will come,\u201d Mims said with a laugh.<\/p>\n
And come they have. In just two months since the new salon opened, five of the original members of the Catwalks team have regrouped at the new salon, including Lang-Badgley, the former owner. Two more are on their way.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were so excited,\u201d Bourne said of the stylists when she told them about the new place. \u201cThey were like, \u2018make it happen and I\u2019ll be there.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Mims said the current economic crisis helped reinforce the idea that the time was right to step out on their own.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the economic times, retail space became fairly inexpensive,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
So the women got the space and worked to turn it into salon, adding sinks, a hardwood floor and a couple coats of paint. At 600 square feet, it is less than half the size Catwalks was, giving it a \u201csmall, quaint and boutique-ish feel,\u201d according to Lang-Badgley.<\/p>\n
Bourne said working at the new salon has the feel of a family reunion and that has made going to work in the morning less of a chore.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a great group of people to work together,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s nice and it\u2019s comfortable and it\u2019s fun to go to work again.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Mims, the magic that made Catwalks such a fun place to work is also coming back, which she attributes to all of the stylists being positive, created and motivated, as well all happy to be back together.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all have that in common,\u201d she said. \u201cWe all inspire each other very well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s more relaxed,\u201d Lang-Badgley said, comparing the salon to other places she\u2019s worked. \u201cWe have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIn any job I\u2019ve ever had it\u2019s never been such a great place to go to work,\u201d Mims said. \u201cThat\u2019s coming back, that feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
STYLES<\/p>\n
The Styles on Meeker Salon is located at 317 W. Meeker St. For more information or to make an appointment, call 253-852-5047.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When the building which housed Catwalks Salon on Meeker Street burned down more than two years ago, it left not only a hole in the landscape of the block, but a hole in the hearts of the women who called the salon home. \u201cIt was like losing my first-born,\u201d said Janine Lang-Badgley, former owner of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":223,"featured_media":8350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8349"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/223"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8349"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8349\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8349"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8349"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8349"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=8349"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}