For 14 years, Beauty Lounge Minneapolis has been more than a place to get a haircut.
The Uptown salon built a loyal following by serving clients of all hair textures and backgrounds under one roof — an approach owner Melissa Taylor says remains uncommon in the Twin Cities beauty industry.
Now, after more than a decade in business, Beauty Lounge is closing its doors.
“It was extremely difficult to decide to close,” Taylor said.
The salon first opened in northeast Minneapolis in 2011 before relocating to Uptown in 2019. Taylor, who moved to Minnesota from Georgia, said she founded Beauty Lounge with a mission that reflected her own approach to hairstyling.
“When I moved to Minneapolis, that was not the case,” Taylor said of the city's hair industry. “I've always loved doing hair, but I've never said I'm only going to do hair for a certain group of people, like if you have straight hair, I can do it. If you have curly hair, I can do it.”
Taylor describes Beauty Lounge as a multicultural salon, but not simply because it serves a diverse clientele.
“When I say multicultural salon, I truly mean that it is – we're not doing hair based on ethnicity,” she said. “I think that in order to be a proficient hairstylist, you should be comfortable and confident with working with all hair types and hair textures.”
She compares hair textures to fabrics.
"If you were a seamstress or you are a fashion designer, and you said, 'Well, I can only work with silk,' or 'I can only work with denim,' I don't think you'd be considered a proficient fashion designer," Taylor said.
That philosophy helped create a space where clients from different backgrounds sat side-by-side, something Taylor believes became one of the salon's defining characteristics.
"I think we have not only built a salon, but we've built a multi-generational community," she said. "There are not many spaces in general where you could have anywhere from a three year old to an 80 or 90 year old in that same space."
She added that the salon became a place where people who otherwise might never meet found common ground.
"There were times that you'd be sitting next to somebody that you would have never crossed paths with in your regular life," Taylor said. "There's an intersectionality that happens in here that doesn't organically happen in other places."
Changing business models
While Beauty Lounge remained busy with clients, Taylor said the salon faced challenges that have become increasingly common across the beauty industry.
One of the biggest shifts, she said, came after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“There has been a huge push for people to work independently,” Taylor said.
Beauty Lounge operated as a commission-based salon, meaning stylists worked as employees while the business covered overhead costs such as products, color, booking systems and other expenses.
But many newer stylists are increasingly choosing to rent salon suites or operate independently.
“The majority are going into micro salons,” Taylor said. “There are larger buildings that have 100, 200 square foot micro salons in the building, so there may be 30 to 100 different beauty professionals working under the same roof.”
Taylor said independent work can be a good fit for some stylists, but worries the trend has reduced opportunities for mentorship and collaboration.
“I think that community and interacting with other people is important,” she said. “I think it's important for young stylists and new stylists to have a space where they can learn from other people.”
She added that new stylists who move directly into independent suites can miss out on critical professional development.
“When people are going right from cosmetology school into a salon suite, you miss that,” Taylor said. “You become so siloed that you are only becoming good at the things that you already are good at.”
For Beauty Lounge, finding stylists who wanted to work within its collaborative model became increasingly difficult.
“We have had a challenging time finding stylists that want to work in this environment,” Taylor said. “It's not for lack of clientele.”
At the same time, she said rising costs have made operating a small salon more difficult.
“We all know that things are way more expensive than they used to be, significantly more expensive than they used to be,” she said.
Taylor believes the beauty industry itself will survive but expects significant changes ahead.
“I think the industry will be okay, but I think the industry is going to look a lot different in the coming years,” she said.
A place that felt safe
For many clients — particularly women with textured hair who have struggled to find stylists trained to work with their hair type — the Beauty Lounge offered something more than beauty services.
“I think the beauty lounge is safe,” Taylor said. “It feels like a safe space to come to. It feels like a place to block out the outside world.”
Over the years, clients and staff navigated major moments together.
“We've been through elections, we've been through unrest, we've been through a pandemic, we've been through a lot of life events together,” she said.
Taylor said the salon's impact extended beyond hairstyling.
“There are a lot of people who have never had a positive salon experience, and the first time they have a positive salon experience, it's like their world opens up and they see themselves differently,” she said.
The salon also helped clients embrace their natural hair textures.
“Whether it's even learning how to love their texture for the first time. That's been really important,” Taylor said.
Although she said Beauty Lounge was not “hugely financially successful,” she considers its community impact a success.
“I do think the salon has been successful in the impact that it's made on our community, and just helping people see themselves differently and feeling good when they leave a space.”
‘Our work continues’
While the physical salon is closing, Taylor says the mission behind Beauty Lounge will continue.
The company will continue its bridal and event styling work and plans to expand services for weddings and photo shoots.
“Absolutely, our work continues,” she said.
Taylor also sees opportunities to continue advocating for inclusive beauty services outside of a traditional salon setting.
“There'll be women with curly hair that say, ‘Oh, typically when I'm on a photo shoot, nobody touches my hair,’” Taylor said. “I don't think that should be the case.”
As she reflects on Beauty Lounge's final chapter, Taylor hopes its legacy extends beyond hair.
“When we close our doors, I really hope people leave the space a little bit less ignorant to what people's experiences are,” she said.
“I hope people leave with a little bit more self love.”
Most of all, she hopes the salon leaves a lasting mark on the community it served for 14 years.
“I really hope we left the Twin Cities a little bit better,” Taylor said. “I've seen so many amazing things happen in this space.”
