Part of downtown Timmins has been beautified with a professional makeover.
Loralee’s Hair and Beauty Salon has opened its doors in its new location in the former Working Class building, which is next door to its old one.
Loralee Boucher, owner of Loralee’s Hair and Beauty Salon, has been renovating the first floor into a beautiful new salon.
“I bought the building in May and we gutted it, the main floor anyway,” she said. “We renovated for approximately three months, every day in and out, 14-hour days. In August, we were finally able to open up shop.”
After taking hairstyling in school, Boucher has run her own salon for eight years. She said the business is benefitting from the move.
“For one, I own the building. I am no longer renting,” she said. “We do have a larger space. After being in the salon business for eight years, I was able to put a lot more thought into how I was going to design this place — lighting, paint colours, flooring, that kind of stuff.
“So, now it’s exactly the way I wanted it to be.”
There were a lot of long days involved during the renovations.
“It was a lot of work,” Boucher said. “Not only did I work full-time still doing hair, I worked full-time in here (renovating). They were long days. Along with the help of my boyfriend, dad, friends and family, I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Even though the new salon is looking gorgeous, work on the building continues. The upstairs is available for rent for private functions.
“I’m mostly done renovating down here, so now I’m going to pick away at the upstairs,” she said. “It needs new floors, a new bar, things like that.
“We are already open for business. I did give it a good cleanup, painted and moved the bar around a bit. We’ve been renting it. We have a lot of Christmas parties booked and birthday parties. It’s open to private events only.”
The salon is well-known locally for its specialty.
“We do specialize in colouring,” Boucher explained. “I think that’s our strong suit. The most famous, balayage is what it’s called, we’re really well known for that. But with most any colour techniques we’re pretty good. We have great cut craft as well.”
The salon serves women, men and kids. Boucher uses social media very well to keep customers up to date. For example, Facebook let’s everyone know if there are openings available on any given day.
“I think social media is very important for engaging with your clientele,” she said. “We’re constantly keeping them updated with what’s going on in the salon.”
She also strives to keep stylists trained in the latest techniques.
“We’re very attentive to their (clients) needs. We also keep up with the training that’s available. That’s very important,” Boucher said. “Trends are constantly changing. You have to stay on top of what’s in that year because year to year, things will continue to change.”
So far customers have been impressed with the new space. In one media survey, Loralee’s was voted the best beauty salon in Timmins.
“We’ve had nothing but positive feedback,” Boucher said. “Like I said, we’re really well engaged with them and we listen to our clients, understand what they’re looking for and go forward from that.
Loralee’s Hair and Beauty Salon is located at 176 Second Ave. in Timmins.
It is open Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. It is closed Sunday and Monday. For more information call 705-360-5242 or find them on Facebook.
