Vanilla Nails & Beauty Opens Above Dusk For Hair

Vanilla Nails and Beauty is the latest new business to open its doors in the town, so we popped along to say hello and find out more!

Vanilla is above ‘Dusk For Hair’ on Yorke Street, with a lovely view of St Giles out of their studio window. It has been started up by Fran Kelly, who has previous beauty experience having worked from a salon in Gresford, plus working for herself as a mobile beautician.

Lynne Brighouse and Andrea Roberts run Dusk for Hair below, and are formally of Overton Arcade. They floated the idea of Fran moving her mobile business to the Yorke Street shop.

Dusk For Hair – downstairs from Vanilla

Fran told us of the decision to startup, saying “Do I make myself static and make people come to me, will it work? Its not as fun being on your own, especially with lots of gear to be taking around. So I thought I would make the commitment and jumped in, so here we are!”

Dusk downstairs has a bright and airy feel, creating a relaxed informal atmosphere when you walk in and Fran was given the freedom to do what she wanted upstairs, however “there is not a massive difference in the look and feel of the salon downstairs and Vanilla upstairs, we have ended up being very much together than totally separate which does help out both businesses.”

They had the grand opening on Saturday, with pink carpet on Yorke Street – which we believe is a first!

We asked about why Wrexham, and why that location, and Fran told us “We are all from Wrexham, and our location suits us as we are just down from the town centre and around the corner from Eagles Meadow”

“The parking is great as there are loads of places to park nearby”

Fran has a PGCE and said “After working in Yale I got to know alot of girls who live in Wrexham, and the town doesn’t always give the best name for itself. Wrexham itself has some lovely buildings, the people are lovely. I think we need to bring some life back into Wrexham so I hope we help!”

“There is certainly a feeling that especially the women in Wrexham are getting much more glam, they are much more interested in their lashes, nails and tans. Hopefully Vanilla can ‘get in there’ and help with it!”

An impressive range of nail varnish to glam up the town!

With any new business the aim is to offer something unique, and Fran told us “I feel there are lots of salons in town, and although everyone likes to think they are different I do think I am offering something different! I dont do facials and massages, I do express treatments, so you can get ready for a night out!”

“Acrylics, shellac , manicures, pedicures, spray tans, waxing and more and after all that you can go downstairs and get your hair done as well! We can do everything for holidays and nights out!”

With new business startups in certain parts of Wrexham there are “Rural Development Grants” available, however when Wrexham.com has spoken with new business we have yet to find one active. Many are told about them but eligibility becomes an issue either due to location or that the project has started. One example is the recently opened tattoo studio in Coedpoeth, where although it was not open for business it was ineligible for the grant.

Fran told us she was aware of the grant, “I was looking at opening in Rossett initially, before coming here with Lynne and Andrea. I spoke with the council and they mentioned the rural grants as it was Rossett, I then told them I was opening in the town centre and was told there was nothing they could do for me in terms of that.”

“To be fair to the council we did sit down and have a long chat about what was possible, however not being rural and being ‘to old’ for some things did limit what is out there. They did offer free courses for book keeping, social networking and the like.”

“Lots of people starting their own businesses now are older after being made redundant, and do not have the opportunity to work for someone else. To say to someone they are ‘too old’ is just no good. These are the people who need this kind of support”.

Clean and modern – the new Vanilla. Yes thats a panda on the wall…!

Fran though has a fantastic looking salon despite not being eligible for such assistance, and is certainly using modern technology as she was flicking through her booking system on her iPad while we were there!

Vanilla also has a twitter account @vanillanailswxm , so click and follow and there was talk of some live pictures of nails and the like going up!

Vanilla Nails & Beauty is at 17 Yorke Street, and can be contacted on 07961 016837.

You can view their website on vanilla-nailsandbeauty.co.uk which also includes a ‘menu’ of treatments with pricing information!