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Lincoln business keeping up with the times          Send a link to a friend

Salon offerings spa-style

[SEPT. 29, 2005]  Anyone knows that if you want to stay in business, you have to know your customers and keep up with the times. Salon owner Donna Lawless of Hair Headquarters has done just that.

Salons today are trending toward multiple services and spalike environments. Hair Headquarters has followed suit with a compilation of upscale businesses offering clients an array of pampering services at moderate, affordable prices. Tucked away in a quiet plaza corner, the salon offers hair and nail services, tanning and massage therapy, all set in an uplifting tropical-motif setting. The combined services provide luxurious rejuvenation from head to toe.

The salon is centrally located in Lincoln at 716 N. Logan St., the corner of Logan and Keokuk streets. Ample close-up parking makes getting in and out quick and easy -- an important factor for today's busy person, not to mention cushy convenience.

Also making things quick are an abundance of tanning beds in the tanning center. The ability to either walk in or schedule an appointment avoids waiting time. That is often an undesirable factor at tanning centers that don't take appointments.

The Tanning Center started with six tanning beds, already the most in Logan County, and recently added a stand-up booth. The stand-up booth avoids untanned crease lines that some people develop when tanning lying down. A combination of bed and booth tanning is recommended for the most even tan.

 

Michael leads the way into the salon's newest stand-up tanning booth.

The tanning business emphasizes a clean environment and clean tanning beds.

Stepping into the massage room is a step into tranquillity. The muted blue lighting, candles and a clean, charming decor of butterflies and flowers set a lighthearted mood. The fresh, turned-down sheet draping the massage bed beckons a moment to lie down, escape and relax. The bed can be heated, providing even greater comfort for the less warmblooded souls.

Under Kay Anderson's skilled hands the body is smoothed and soothed, all while listening to either gentle musical selections she provides or those you bring. In two hours' time she finds every tight muscle or knot, and it is kneaded and tamed.

 

Kay welcomes clients into her soothing massage room

This lady's skills are a priceless commodity for the stress-tightened mind and body.

Anderson said that people often seek massage therapy for help with chronic problems of the neck and back. She hears comments like, "I just feel so much better" or "I can turn my head now." But some people are grateful for a place to just relax.

As a nurse she says that so much of what you do causes pain. "It is empowering that it is something you can do to help people feel better," she says.

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Anderson trained in the Halsa Hem School of Massage, where medical professionals expand their skills in massage, and is a licensed massage therapist. She is also a licensed nurse, practicing in obstetrics at Abraham Lincoln Memorial Hospital for the last 16 years and two years at St. Clara’s Manor before that. She began her business at Corner Cuts in 2002 and moved to Hair Headquarters when the other building was sold.

Lawless was working in Springfield in 1976 as the days were fading when women went to the beauty shop and men to the barber. She had male clients coming from Jacksonville and Springfield.

She decided to move and begin her own full service barber-stylist salon. When she visited Lincoln she thought that it offered the cleanest and friendliest environment for a business, and it would be a great place to raise her daughter.

Hair Headquarters began at 937 Woodlawn Road. In 2002 she moved the business to the current location. She added The Tanning Center, and Serenity Now Massage Therapy also joined the complex.

Lawless believes in offering quality service at reasonable rates and in offering privacy in a friendly atmosphere. A friendly staff that includes Donna's husband, Mike Lawless, and daughter Whitney Kincheloe personably greets customers coming to Hair Headquarters.

As a businesswoman she believes that no matter the economic climate in Lincoln, there is opportunity for success around every turn “if you have a cup half-full,” and she says, “I’m a half-full person.” She believes in taking responsibility and adapting for success at every opportunity, in good times and in bad.

In light of skyrocketing gas prices caused by Hurricane Katrina, she said, "I'm a compassionate person; I have gas, a job, a home, a car; I can conserve on gas." It is that attitude that makes hers a valuable and successful business in Lincoln.

Lawless continues to look for ways to enhance her business and services. She is in the market for additional beauticians to help expand and support hair and nail services in the salon.

Donna gives Michael a little trim.

People often say they don't take time to take care of themselves. But when they finally do, they say they're glad they did.

Don't wait. With the everyday stresses that we all experience and especially with winter coming on, plan to take indulge yourself a bit with some of these services. It doesn't cost too much to take good care of yourself.

[Jan Youngquist]

 

 

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