Cindi Galiher knows beauty. She has spent her entire career in the beauty industry working for well-known brands such as Revlon, Laura Mercier and Borghese. She has also been trained as a makeup artist by world-renowned makeup artists Mercier and Linda Cantello.
When her long-time hair stylist, Kathy Korab, mentioned she wanted to open her own salon, Cindi wanted to be a part of this new adventure. She had been out of the business for a few years, and missed it.
“I had my first child at 45 years old, so I stayed home for a little bit,” she says. “Plus, my husband and I moved a lot and we built all of our own houses, so I oversaw that as well.”
The timing couldn’t have been better. Her daughter was getting older, and she was ready for something new. “This particular salon fell into my lap,” says Cindi. “The previous owner wanted to retire, and my husband and I bought the building. Kathy and I then opened GLAZE Salon. That was six years ago.”
While Kathy is now a co-owner, she’s still active as a stylist. She’s very well known for her craft in the area, so she’s always in high demand.
“We blend really well as partners because we each have our different strengths and weaknesses and it has just worked,” says Cindi. “Owning the salon means we have the freedom to make our own decisions on how this business is going to run. We knew from the beginning that we wanted a place that was going to be different and we wanted to offer that.”
A soon as clients walk in, they are warmly greeted and offered a beverage. It could be a cappuccino, a seltzer, or if it's later in the day, a mimosa, a glass of wine, or a beer.
Its large, modern space located in Chatham’s Townsquare building complex feels like it’s situated in the heart of Manhattan. In fact, many New Yorkers drive out of the city to come to GLAZE because it doesn’t only cater to everything hair - although that’s the main draw - but it’s also a whole experience. After all, its tagline is “Where beautiful hair is just the beginning.”
GLAZE has expanded into doing lashes, microblading for eyebrows, nails, waxing, and more. They have a high-end line of beauty products that include Lafco and NEST New York®.
“We also brought in a line from Jao Brand, and their claim to fame is their all-natural enriched oil for the face and body called Goē Oil. Along with that, we have some innovative products like the Capillus Hair Growth Cap for people who have thinning hair and have recently added a HIFU machine for tightening skin.”
Clients also love browsing the retail part of the salon, where they can pick up a candle, diffuser, greeting card, reading glasses, jewelry, handbags, and other special gifts for themselves or others. There are personalized baskets for the holidays, which were a huge hit during Christmas.
In addition to Kathy, there’s a large group of stylists of all ages and specialties who can cater to a varied demographic, whether it’s a young man getting a haircut for the prom, a mom who needs a great new color, or a grandma and grandpa who want to look their best for a child’s birthday.
The two women have created a people friendly (and pet friendly) space for clients and staff. Cindi believes her background in cosmetics and business has given her a solid foundation to run a company, and Kathy has made a great partner. She’s the person who is there day to day and is wonderful with clients.
“I’m also a very firm believer that advertising is one of the ways that you let people know who you are, where you are, and what you do,” says Cindi. “It's very important to me to make sure that people see our faces and know us.” She says people come in and they'll recognize her and Kathy as the owners because they’ve seen them in magazines.
“They're getting to know exactly who we are as business owners and people.” The salon gets phone calls all the time from people who have read or heard about GLAZE and want to experience it for themselves.
Cindi and Kathy are glad they took the leap into being business owners, and everything they’ve tried has led to success. “If you plan to open your own business, find a direction where you can differentiate yourself from something or somebody else,” says Cindi. “We have new stylists that we just hired at the end of last year, and we’re always changing things up. The sky’s the limit.”
GLAZESalon.com
“We blend really well as partners because we each have our different strengths and weaknesses .”