After eight years cutting hair, the team at HeadQuarters Hairdressing George St are setting down their scissors.
The salon officially shut its doors last month but an outlet store which opened in its place this week will be in business until later this year, when they permanently vacate the site for earthquake strengthening work.
HeadQuarters Hairdressing Group co-owner and managing director Jamie Copland said it had been a “tough call” not to renew their lease next year.
It had been “impacted badly” during the roadworks which had “completely cut off” traffic, with regular clientele struggling to find carparks.
“The dust and noise were overbearing, and foot traffic reduced significantly.
“The completed work looks fantastic but for us the site wasn’t quite right moving forward.”
The salon would have also needed to invest in a fit-out, and they ultimately decided not to renew the lease.
The George St salon was bought by the group in August 2019, which also owns five other salons around Dunedin.
Mrs Copland said the salon’s closure marked the end of an era and staff were “very disappointed” having worked together for many years.
At the time of the closure, three staff had remained at the site with two transferring to their salons in Great King and Hanover Sts — both of which were recently renovated.
The New Edinburgh Way block was always a fun and vibrant area of town and they would miss being part of the George St community, she said
A council spokesman said they had always acknowledged the essential work in George St had caused a level of disruption.
“We’ve outlined many times the steps we took to minimise this and support businesses affected by the work,” he said.
However, the spokesman also said bigger forces — such as falling sales volumes and rising liquidation rates — were at play that were affecting retailers across the country.
“We believe these forces are far more relevant for retail outlet closures in Dunedin than the George St upgrade.
“We all want to see our central city retailers succeed, and we feel for those who don’t, but our investment in George St will help ensure people keep visiting and spending and will help it adapt to changing retail patterns,” the spokesman said.
tim.scott@odt.co.nz
