The deal is done and Shark Tank Gilroy’s winner Heather Pacheco’s Shag Beauty Bar will be located at the Bertolone Building at 7433 Monterey St.
“I signed my lease two days ago,” Pacheco beamed. “It’s definitely go time.”
The lease is for five years with a five year option, she added.
Pacheco walked away with a $50,000 prize – provided by the Gilroy Downtown Business Association – on June 8 after beating 12 other contestants in a competition aimed at getting a new business into one of Gilroy’s 24 vacant downtown properties. The premise behind her “blow-dry bar” plan is simple: no colors, no cuts – just a shampoo, blow-out and styling. It was enough to win over the judges and members of the audience who texted GDBA coordinator Melanie Corona after the event. Attendees were asked to text their top three choices to Corona to see if the judges made the right decision. Pacheco still came out on top.
With the location for her business settled – there were a few false starts as other locations in downtown Gilroy were considered and then ruled out – Pacheco is now assembling the team that will provide the backbone to her new venture.
“I’ve already hired my staff, they are going through their training with Aveda,” she said. “Everybody we’ve hired is ready to get going.”
Now, all that stands between Gilroyans and the “best new trend in affordable luxury” is the build out time to get the salon ready.
“I’ve already met with the architects and I’m meeting them again to finalize the build out I’m going with,” Pacheco explained.
Pacheco said Oct. 1 would be the latest date the salon will open for business, but that she doesn’t think it will take that long with building owner Mike Bertolone champing at the bit.
“He’s ready to go full throttle,” she laughed.
What’s a blow-dry bar?
Blow-dry bars are enjoying a renaissance, explained Pacheco, as women take a retro approach to their beauty regimen. The process –once highly popular and common in the ’50s and ’60s – features a hair wash with salon-quality shampoo and conditioner, blow-drying and styling. LAist.com describes blow-dry bars as “blow-on-the-go salons” that are “currently the best trend in affordable luxury with new ones popping up in Los Angeles daily.”
Pacheco says prices will range from $40 – for a scalp massage, shampoo and blow out – to $85 and above for a special occasion hairstyle such as a French Twist.
