Spotting the next trend

Mentor salon owner credits success to keeping up on the latest hair styles.

When Jennifer Pealer isn't in her hair salon, she is often jetting to Chicago or New York or taking a trip across the Atlantic to London to check on the latest styles.

Her pace is an ongoing effort to bring cosmopolitan trends to Northeast Ohio. And that effort has paid off for Pealer and her Mentor salon, Jenniffer & Co. - with the extra "f" added to distinguish the store from the co-owner.

The salon has expanded twice since Pealer and her brother Joseph Sullens started the business in 1993, and the number of employees has increased from four stylists to 22 and d nine nail technicians.

Now, in recent months, the salon has reached 18,900 customers, had its styles appear in a British hair magazine and been named to the Lake-Geauga Fast Track 50 as one of the area's fastest growing companies.

Pealer thinks the salon has improved on offering customers the latest European hairstyles as quickly as salons in Chicago or other major cities. "With what we do, we definitely have tightened the gap with them," said Pealer, whose career started out simply enough as a stylist first for a department store then a salon chain.

Lake County with it's farmland and quiet suburbs may not seem like New York or London, but Pealer said residents still enjoy the same styles. "People are people, wherever they are," she said. "They want the best hair color when they go to the office, They want to be a little edgy."

When she was ready to start her own business, she enlisted the help of her brother, Joseph, who mainly focuses on the financial end of the business as the salon's co-owner. "We bought an existing tanning salon in 1993 with hair-styling in the back," Sullens said. "We decided to keep the tanning beds and expand the hair (section) and four chairs became eight."

The salon has remained in the same location in the Jonnycake Square, 9570 mentor Ave., but twice took over adjacent storefronts for more room to serve the growing customer list. In 1993 that roll had 834 names on it; now there are 18,900.

Sullens said one key to the stores ongoing success has been the variety of services it offers. The tanning section has grown to 13 beds and customers also now come for pedicures and manicures, massages and skin services. Jenniffer & Co. also has developed a wig service for customers undergoing chemotherapy.

For Pealer, it is a constant learning process as well as a teaching one. She recently completed the Intensive Training Program, sponsored by The Salon Association in Las Vegas. "It is very important that I keep current on the latest hairstyles and other trends in terms of personal care in order to help our salon team continue exceeding the expectations of our clientele," she said.

Pealer said an important tactic the company has used is to take the her stylists and staff to fashion shows as often as possible to give them a firsthand look. Despite the ongoing progress, Pealer said it is a constant battle to stay on top of the latest in beauty trends. "It's a lot of dedication," Pealer said.

"It may seems like we're two steps ahead but in our minds we're three steps behind."

John Bertosa (Business Editor) - The News-Herald, Business Section.press section