Courtesy Studio 110
By Rod Bacon
An often quoted proverb states “When one door closes, another door opens.”
This was the case for Eric Mattison, an entrepreneur who recently established two businesses in Whitehall.
For 10 years Mattison owned Square Nail Rustics in Glens Falls, a business that made wide plank flooring and farmhouse furniture. His 30-employee firm was located in the Chase Bag Building and he a showroom in Union Square and a second manufacturing facility on Dix Avenue.
He decided to move his base of operations to a home he purchased in Hartford that had a carriage house on the property. The previous owner had made wide plank flooring from old gym bleachers, and Mattison figured the transition to the new location would go smoothly.
“It was a pre-existing use so I thought it would be pretty easy for me to use that carriage house that he was using to make my wide plank flooring,” he said.
That was not the case. He had planned to enlarge the carriage house to suit his needs when the COVID pandemic hit. According to him, the price of construction materials went up considerably and the demand for custom flooring and farmhouse furniture declined.
“It simply wasn’t financially feasible to continue with this business anymore,” he said.
So he sold the Hartford property and started looking for another business opportunity.
What he found was a historic building at 110 Main Street in Whitehall. Built in the 1940s, the building was owned by Bob and Joanne Case, who operated Brock Vending, a company that supplied vending machines, pool tables and jukeboxes to area bars and restaurants. This business occupied the second floor and there was a laundromat, hair salon and tanning booth on the first floor. The third floor had what Mattison termed “an amazing apartment” where the owners lived.
He set about renovating the building. In the hair salon he installed new wide plank flooring from a supply he had on hand. He installed six stylist chairs with workstations and new lighting. A new tanning bed was installed complete with soothing lighting and soft music. The laundromat was converted to a wash-and-fold operation.
He did a lot of the work himself but hired Hartford-based Perfect Solution, owned by Jerry Schroeder, for the more complicated tasks.
Currently, there are three experienced stylists renting chairs in the hair salon.
Sarah Miner owned a salon in Glens Falls that shut down due to the pandemic. She then worked at other salons and came to Whitehall when Mattison contacted her.
“She came to me because she saw it as an opportunity to regain some clientele and add clients in a new salon in an area that is under served,” he said.
Amanda Lynn, who has over 10 years experience, works only Sundays because she is employed full-time by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Based in Crown Point, she is in charge of all the campgrounds in northern Washington County.
Ashley Beatty has more than 20 years in the cosmetologist industry. She lives in Whitehall but rents a chair in Rutland, Vt., as well as at Studio 110. She works part-time in both salons and has brought many of her clients from Castleton, Fair Haven and Poultney to Whitehall.
Mattison is still looking for a trained barber to do men’s haircuts.
The wash-and-fold business, dubbed ADK Wash-And-Fold, is outsourced to Adirondack Pro Services. They do the pickup, wash-and-fold tasks, and delivery back to clients in an area that includes Glens Falls, South Glens Falls, Hudson Falls and Bolton Landing.
“I’m surprised at the clientele we’re getting,” said Mattison. “I expected we’d get a lot of younger working people who are too busy to do laundry. But we’re getting a lot of senior citizens. We’re getting calls from people who say ‘my parents are getting older and we’d like to do something to make life easier for them.’
The salon offers cuts and styling for men, women and children, as well as color and waxing. The stylists oversee the tanning booth.
The salon is open Wednesday through Sunday.
Mattison has plans to expand the offerings at the salon. He said there is space in the rear of the building that can accommodate other services. In the near future he expects to have a massage therapist, a Reiki practitioner, and an expert in facials and eyelash extensions there on an appointment-only basis.
For more information or to schedule an appointment go to studio110whitehall.com.