The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Fine Bella Hair Salon recognized nationally
Twice voted a top salon in country by magazine
An Avon Lake hair salon was voted one of the top salons by a magazine two years in a row.
An Avon Lake hair salon was voted one of the top salons in the country two years in a row despite the challenges of the novel coronavirus pandemic last year.
Fine Bella Hair Salon, 33382 Walker Road, was founded in 1998 under another name, but the same owner.
Sheri Hancock first opened the salon in the late 1990s, in a small house in Avon Lake with her mother, Deborah Smith, who has since retired.
At that time, the salon was called The Cutting Depot, because it was housed in a historical building that formerly was called “The Old Train Depot Station.”
Hancock spent a year attending college classes after graduating from Sheffield Lake Schools.
But as her freshman year ended, she said she decided to switch directions and went to cosmetology school.
“I’d say I was 14 years old when I realized that was my talent,” Hancock said of her successful career as a hairdresser. “I knew early on in my career, I wanted to open my own salon.”
As the hair salon got busier, mother and daughter started looking for a new place to expand their business as they were running out of space.
The pair obtained yet another building and the salon continued to grow.
Eventually, Hancock found the building the salon currently is located in, and this time, the move came with a name change.
“I named it Fine Bella, which means beautiful finish in Italian,” Hancock said.
She hired an architect to help design her space and said she feels “blessed” about the salon and its future.
Up until a couple years ago, the salon offered pedicures and manicures. But the demand for hair styling took off and the salon again changed a bit to keep up with current times, Hancock said.
All the chairs and space used for the pedicures and manicures were removed to make room for more shampoo stations, she said.
“We’re strictly a hair salon now,” Hancock said.
She said she has about 200 clients she regularly takes care of and her employees have thousands more each year.
“I love what I do,” Hancock said. “I love to do hair, and I love making people feel good about themselves.”
Her dedication was recognized for the last two years when the salon was named by Salon Today magazine for its “customer care” in 2020.
This year, she said her salon was recognized again by the magazine for its exemplary practices and strategies in the salon while battling the global pandemic.
“We did everything we could do to service our clients … we’re still sanitizing like wild women,” Hancock said with a laugh.
The salon offered curbside pick-up for its customers when needed among other accommodations.
Hancock had to close for several weeks early last year as the country shut down due to the pandemic.
“We worked many extra hours” in the weeks after re-opening in May 2020, she said.
Meeting their clients’ needs while social-distancing was difficult as was finding products that are regularly used in the salon.
“It was busy and tiring all the way through July,” Hancock recalled.
She refers to her employees as “her team” and maintains a positive energy that is evident in her salon.
“You feel the energy of this place,” Hancock said. “It’s a happy place with positive energy.”
Providing a “stable, healthy, happy work environment” also is important, Hancock said.
She said she counts her teams as one of her “blessings” and has several employees who have been with her for more than 20 years.
“I love being around them,” Hancock said of her employees.
When Hancock isn’t at the salon, she said she spends as much time as possible with her family.
Hancock has three grown children who are active in their respective universities with sports activities.
As an employer, Hancock said she is considerate of her employees’ family time.
“Our kids are only young once,” she said. “It’s important to be there for them.”