You may have noticed recently that one of the longest-tenured tenants in Paddock Lake’s Village Plaza has been moving out.
But the owners of Great Endings Hair Salon want their customers and everyone else to know that the business is closing its doors after 33 years not because of any strife, but so that one of the partners can retire.
Co-owner Lynn Sluppick decided it was time for her to join her husband in retirement, said the other co-owner Cathleen Genovese. Sluppick plans to move to Minnesota to be closer to family.
“We didn’t go out of business,” Genovese said. “We chose to go out of business because Lynn wanted to retire.”
Genovese will be working at Gemini Salon and Day Spa on Highway 50 just east of I-94, Kenosha. The other Great Endings stylist, Maria Mueller, will be joining Sugar-n-Spice in Silver Lake.
Great Endings had its great beginning 33 years ago in Bristol. The salon moved to Village Plaza about 21 years ago. Many of its neighbors at that time — including GTE, Advantage Bank and Wisconsin Southern Gas Company– have already gone, replaced by other businesses through the years.
In her time in the salon business, Genovese has seen many changes. Two with some of the greatest impacts were the rise of chain salons and their walk-in, no appointment policies and the move toward offering spa services like massage.
“They (the chains) changed the way we did business,” Genovese said.
Still she finds the contact with her regular customers satisfying and that’s why she decided to keep working in a salon, while giving up the responsibility of running one.
“We were very lucky. We had a very loyal clientele. We had people who were still with us from our early days,” Genovese said.
Note: Cathleen Genovese is also the owner of westofthei.com sponsor Rustic Dairyland Antique Mall. — DH