Cut-price salon up for grabs
A Feilding salon owner has come up with a pay-it-forward arrangement to kick-start the career of a young hairdresser.
Indigo Hair Design owner Valerie O’donnell is ready to bow out of hairdressing, but not before she provides someone with the opportunity to buy her salon at a reasonable cost.
O’donnell, 69, bought her first salon in 1972 under a similar arrangement for $500.
‘‘It set me up for life and I have been a salon owner pretty much ever since.’’
It has been her dream to provide someone with a similar opportunity.
The arrangement includes selling the salon cheaper than it would cost to set one up. She is willing to provide business advice, and the deal includes her clients and equipment.
O’donnell said the lucky recipient could be someone who lost their job during the Covid-19 pandemic or a young person passionate about hairdressing.
‘‘Because of this offer when I was young I have never been without work, and I have met some amazing and interesting people,’’ she said.
‘‘I’mnot giving it away, but I’mnot expecting a high amount for it.’’
O’donnell has owned five salons and sold her last one for about $30,000.
She began her career on Molesworth St, Wellington, down the road from Parliament.
Several clients were politicians and she also cut the hair of the wife of former Prime
Minister Keith Holyoake, Norma, with whom she became close friends.
When the owners left the salon, they offered it to O’donnell.
‘‘I was a young, newly married, 20-year-old – new to Wellington with no savings,’’ she said.
‘‘This was in the 70s at the time of the oil shock, which seriously unbalanced the economy. However, I borrowed the money from a lawyer... and I have never regretted it for amoment.’’
She has since owned salons in Hutt Valley, Island Bay, Paraparaumu and Feilding.
‘‘I have had staff at times, but I like working by myself. You can do your own thing and you don’t have to answer to anybody.’’
O’donnell has owned the Feilding salon for seven years and, although she works alone, the building has enough space to accommodate two hairdressers.