Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. This edition highlights developments in Peosta, Cascade and Dubuque, Iowa.

A Peosta salon has recently doubled in size, adding more room for services and a new space that can be rented by bridal parties and other guests.

The White Loft, 9772 Hay Hosch Drive, was opened in 2017 by sisters Daniella Dupont and Kandy Hosch. The salon embarked in September on adding 2,400 square feet, more than doubling the size of the space.

“We built the original part of White Loft in 10 weeks,” Dupont said. “We did what we could do with the budget we had and made it work. As the years kind of went on, the team grew, along with the services we wanted to provide. Eventually, we came to the realization we needed a little bit more space.”

The new space allows for the addition of six more chairs to the salon, which The White Loft is hiring to fill. The salon has a staff of nine currently with the availability for stylists at 12 chairs.

The project also added four treatment rooms to add more space for services such as spray tans, lash extensions and hydrafacials. Dupont said lash lifts and tints, as well as brow laminations, are newer services for the salon, as well.

The project also allowed for the addition of the “Bunkhouse,” which Dupont said they hope to have available for bookings on Airbnb in the next couple weeks. The Bunkhouse can hold up to six guests, with the idea sparked to serve bridal parties and give them a place to keep their belongings.

“In the last five years, we realized the industry has been changing so much,” Dupont said. “We provide a lot of bridal services. Wedding parties are becoming larger, and they want to be on location. (In the Bunkhouse), we can do bridal services there, or they can come down to the salon. It gives them the on-location feel and the experience.”

Dupont said the Bunkhouse can serve any guests, not just bridal parties, and includes a kitchenette, bathroom and side entrance to the building.

“If you asked me five years ago if we’d be expanding right now, I probably never would have dreamt it,” Dupont added. “It’s kind of been crazy to see where we were and see where we have come.”

The White Loft is open Monday through Saturday for appointments. The salon can be reached at 563-599-9337 and found online at thewhiteloftsalon.com.

New, upgraded coffee camper makes debut in Dubuque County

A popular area coffee camper has been upgraded.

Bob & Lou’s debuted a new coffee camper this year that has more space for staff to work, according to owner Sarah Knabel. The business also has a brand-new espresso chart that can be used year-round.

The new camper is licensed in Cascade, where Knabel lives, though Bob and Lou’s also has a Dubuque location at 1895 University Ave.

“We needed more space,” Knabel said. “We wanted to update things. A new camper could get drinks out of the window faster and get things set up better.”

Knabel started Bob & Lou’s in Dubuque in August 2020 with a coffee camper after her previous corporate job was cut during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Most people would have been devastated, but I saw it as an opportunity to chase my dream,” she said.

Knabel decided to start out with a coffee camper, and Bob & Lou’s operated with a 1968 vintage Forester for two years before Knabel found a new camper with more space. The new camper was picked up in Nashville, Tenn., in March and made its debut in May at the start of the Bob & Lou’s camper season.

“The new camper has air conditioning,” Knabel said. “On hot summer days, that’s super helpful. It has a brand new espresso machine, and it’s really nice to have new equipment. We have much bigger refrigerators in the new one. The old one could hold six gallons of milk. This one can hold 30 gallons if we need it to.”

More information on the coffee camper can be found online at bobandlous.com, as well as the Bob & Lou’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

Longtime Dubuque recording studio moves to new location

A longtime Dubuque recording studio has moved into a new space.

Asylum Recording Studios relocated to 1533 Central Ave. in March and started operating out of the space in May. The location is also home to The Glasshouse recording studio, and the two share the space.

“The main mix room is two times as large,” said owner Matt Gregory, who runs the studio with business partners Dimitri Jess and Willie Horsley.

Gregory — a member of the Recording Academy and a Grammy nominee — started Asylum Recording Studios in 2011 in Chicago.

“I was a DJ, a side-hobby DJ,” he said. “The next evolution from being a DJ is producing your own songs. People were enjoying it, and they would ask, ‘Can you record something for me?’”

Gregory and the recording studio came to Dubuque in 2013. The studio was located at 62 E. Seventh St. prior to the move to Central Avenue.

“The first thing I did when I came (to Dubuque) was looked up if there were any recording studios, and there weren’t any,” he said. “People would tell me they had home studios, but there was nothing like the commercial studios.”

In the new space, Gregory said he hopes to have a room for live music recording ready by the end of August. He plans to have a large mural painted in the front waiting area of the space.

The larger studio space will work well with the longer list of recordings that Gregory, who is also known as “Mr. Zills” and “Thee Sound Dude,” has worked on since starting the studio. In addition to recording songs and full albums, he has also completed audio work for MTV, voiceovers, radio spots and recordings of live shows. In the past two months, Gregory has gotten into podcasting as well.

“I know for a fact I’m the only guy in town working with an analog console,” Gregory said. “I think that’s why people like working with me. The console imparts a certain quality of sound.”

Asylum Recording Studios can be reached at 563-235-0717.