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Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights developments in Dubuque; Lancaster, Wis.; and La Motte, Iowa.
A Dubuque salon has opened under a new name and new ownership.
Margaret Detwiler, of Dubuque, recently purchased and rebranded the salon at 1050 University Ave. into A Touch of Amy Hair & More. The shop offers a variety of hair and beauty services for all ages and hair types.
“This is something I’ve always wanted,” Detwiler said of the venture. “I’m just looking forward to getting settled in and really letting people know we’re here for whatever they need.”
Detwiler has been a licensed cosmetologist for 11 years and worked at the University Avenue salon when it was known as Studio 1050. When the salon went up for sale this year, she decided to purchase it and build on its offerings.
Since acquiring the business, Detwiler has revamped the salon and bolstered its marketing efforts. Additional decor and photos have been added to the salon’s walls to show off the work stylists have done in the past.
A large focus of the salon is inclusion, Detwiler said, whether that be in terms of hair type, age or ability status. The salon’s stylists can work on all hair types — ranging from kinky and coily hair to stick-straight — and they also offer services for all genders and ages.
“We want to have a very laid-back, personable atmosphere here,” Detwiler said. “We’re very kid-friendly, wheelchair-friendly, anything really.”
Detwiler said she named the salon after her late mother, Amy, who was one of her biggest supporters when she was getting started as a stylist.
The “hair & more” portion of the name speaks to the wide variety of services offered at the salon, she added. In addition to cut and color services, A Touch of Amy Hair & More also offers services including waxing, facials and other skin care offerings.
Currently, four stylists work at A Touch of Amy Hair & More, with plans to grow that team in the coming months. Stylists often will bounce ideas off one another and seek advice, said esthetician Dwanna Sykes, to ensure the best result for each client.
“That team dynamic is huge in the salon setting, and we have that here,” Sykes said. “You have to be able to work with each other.”
A Touch of Amy Hair & More now is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on an appointment basis with frequent opportunities for walk-in services. The salon can be reached at 563-582-4001 or on its Facebook and Instagram pages.
Home decor store opens in SW Wisconsin
A new home decor store has opened in southwest Wisconsin.
Rustic Barn Decor opened this summer at 6259 Wisconsin 35/81 in Lancaster, Wis. True to its name, the store operates out of a refurbished barn on owner Kelly Landon’s property.
“We decided to redo the barn because I think people like that authentic, older feeling,” Landon said. “They like to see what it was and how we took it back to its original look.”
The store offers a variety of holiday and everyday decor with offerings changed out seasonally.
The store currently is decked out for Christmas, Landon said, but some of its everyday offerings include cookware, pillows and other items for hosting and entertainment.
“I’ve always wanted to start my own little business, and now that all my kids are out of the house it seemed like a good time,” she said. “I like to decorate and host big parties, so I decided to lean into that.”
Moving forward, Landon said she is most excited to meet people from the southwest Wisconsin community and beyond.
She already has several promotional events planned at the store such as a “Sip & Shop” event set to take place the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. The all-day event will include special deals and locally sourced wine.
Rustic Barn Decor currently is open 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. It can be contacted on its Facebook page or by email at RusticBarnDecorLLC@gmail.com.
Jackson County auto shop changes hands
An automotive repair shop has changed hands in Jackson County, thanks in part to a high school program aimed at early career exploration.
Jack Kremer, 18, recently purchased Clasen’s Auto Service in La Motte. The business has been renamed Kremer Tire & Auto and offers a variety of tire and mechanical services for vehicles of all kinds.
Kremer has been working on vehicles professionally for more than three years, though his personal experience reaches back to a childhood spent working on cars with his father at their La Motte home.
“I’ve always liked working on vehicles. It doesn’t really even feel like work or a chore,” he said. “After I graduated (high school), I decided I wanted to try to do it on my own.”
While attending Bellevue High School, Kremer started working part time at Veach Diesel & Automotive Repair in Bellevue. He later expanded on that work and enrolled in a work-based learning program at the high school.
As part of that program, Kremer and other students had the opportunity to receive school credit for vocational training such as the kind he received while working at the Bellevue repair shop.
In addition to working on vehicles and learning new skills, he completed journal entries on the work he did and prepared a presentation at the end of the semester to culminate a report of everything he had learned.
“I learned a lot about how to treat customers and how to diagnose a problem and work it out,” he said. “(With customers) you need to really explain what’s causing a problem in a way they’ll understand.”
Kremer credited his time spent at Veach Diesel & Automotive Repair with much of his confidence and preparedness to purchase the La Motte shop so soon after his May graduation.
His shop works on personal vehicles, he said, but also on farm equipment and semi-tractor trailers. Tire replacements and repairs are a popular service, but he also offers basic maintenance and other mechanical work.
“Moving forward, I’d like to get a little bit of a stronger customer base and just get to know everyone a little better,” he said. “I know a lot of people from growing up here, but there’s still a lot of people to meet (professionally).”
Kremer Tire & Auto is located at 905 Park Ave. in La Motte. The shop is open 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 6 a.m. to noon on Saturday. For scheduling or other questions, customers can call 563-773-2322.