Salon PS brings professional hair, nail services to senior communities
Published: 08/08/2012

When Ann Lavelle, 84, of North Olmsted, toured assisted-living facilities last year, she had two major concerns.

Was the food any good?

How would she get her hair done?

"And really, I was most worried about my hair," she laughs. "I could handle the food."

Lavelle has been going to a salon once a week to get her hair washed, curled and styled for as long as she can remember -- and she didn't miss a beat when she moved in to Devon Oaks in Westlake.

The community is one of 173 nationwide to have teamed with Salon PS, a Chagrin Falls-based company that offers retirement centers and nursing homes a modern salon atmosphere and services with beauty professionals trained to work with seniors and those with Alzheimer's disease and dementia.

Scott Fisher of Scott Fisher Salon in Chagrin Falls came up with the idea after an accident in 2004 severely injured his then 3-year-old son's foot. After numerous surgeries, Shane began receiving wound care at home -- making recovery easier on him and his family.

"I started thinking about all the people who are homebound and how difficult it must be for them to receive certain services," Fisher says. "As a salon owner, I of course wondered about hair care."

When an in-home beauty service business proved to be inefficient and expensive, Fisher collaborated with John Polatz, husband of one of his longtime clients and then-chief financial officer for engineering company Cavotec.

From their brainstorming sessions came Salon PS -- the PS for Polatz and Scott, and to mimic the end of a letter. ("We're to a community what a postscript is to a letter," Fisher says. "We're not the main attraction; we're an amenity. Therefore, PS.")

Salons in senior communities can often become forgotten spaces -- rarely updated and staffed by part-time stylists who rent a full-time booth at a mainstream salon.

Sandy Skerda, executive director of Devon Oaks, compares the community's pre-Salon PS space to the set of "The Golden Girls."

"Linoleum floor, faded patterned valances, cream wicker furniture -- very Florida, very outdated Florida," Skerda says.

Fisher's company paid to renovate the space with new equipment, dark wood floors and mauve walls that complement the rest of the community's decor. All the work was completed in less than two days.

Black-and-white photographs of Marilyn Monroe, James Dean and Audrey Hepburn anchor the walls, while the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and big-band favorites float through the speakers (at a respectable volume, of course).

Salon PS inherits its predecessors' prices -- it lowered prices at the Waterford at Richmond Heights community -- and adds a few special features, such as "duet" services that allow a mother/daughter or grandmother/granddaughter to have manicures or pedicures together and gift cards on its website (salonps.com) that are delivered directly to the resident.

Some locations have even hosted "Martinis and Manicures" events.

"If somebody has dietary restrictions, we make them a dry martini that's truly a dry martini," Fisher says. "The point is to create enjoyable experiences for these wonderful people."

The concept brightens the days of the professionals who work there, too, says Salon PS regional manager Peggy Rhein.

"I love to make each of my ladies feel special, and that makes me feel special, too," says Rhein, who is specially trained and certified by the Alzheimer's Association.

Alzheimer's and dementia represent a type of language barrier, says Kimberly Ensign, executive director of Waterford at Richmond Heights, who partnered with Salon PS in February. For a stylist to create a comfortable environment for the client, the pair must be able to communicate.

"There's an art to not only supplying services to somebody, but to recognizing signals, making eye contact, having a softer touch and constantly communicating -- 'Would you mind if I do this? How does this feel?' " Ensign says. "[Salon PS] has senior care infused into everything they do, right down to the pressure they use when applying nail polish. That might not sound that big to some people, but to us and our residents, it's everything."

The senior-focused, onsite salons return a sense of independence to residents, says Lavelle, the 84-year-old who lives at Devon Oaks. Her son no longer has to drive her to hair appointments.

"We still want to look good, but we don't want to have to bother anybody else," she says. "That's the pride in us, I think."

Fisher of Salon PS says that's the pride in his company, too.

"We wouldn't be in the senior community if we didn't have a passion for reinstating the dignity that's void in some senior centers," he says. "For us, it's about the level of satisfaction you get from your day and the smiles you get from people who appreciate you because you gave them tip-top care."