The new owners of Salon 512 in downtown Edmonds said that purchasing the business from Edmonds native Gail Sarvis was meant to be — in fact, you might say there was a sign it was the right decision.
Dan Deaver and Bryce Francis own three Chroma Salon and Spa locations in Seattle — all of which offer Aveda products and treatments. When Deaver and Francis first met with Sarvis about buying her salon, they noticed that the letter “A” in her SALON 512 sign had a dot in the middle –which is also the way the “A” appear in the Aveda logo. Turns out that when Sarvis first opened her salon in downtown Edmonds 18 years ago, she had carried Aveda products — and the sign reflected that.
But there’s been more than one sign that the two owners made the right choice to expand to Edmonds, they said. For starters, Sarvis — who is well-known in the Edmonds business community — has been taking them around town — and they’ve been impressed with what they’ve seen.
Francis and Deaver used phrases like “a sense of community,” “longevity of residents” and “tight-knit group of people” to describe their experiences so far in Edmonds. “The retail sector feels so healthy,” Francis said.
“We’ve had our eye on Edmonds for the last two years,” Deaver added. “We’ve just been waiting for the right opportunity.”
Spending time with Sarvis, the new owners were able to see the business relationships she had formed and she opened doors — literally — for them to get to know other downtown Edmonds business owners.
Sarvis, who occasionally has been seeing clients at the salon when she isn’t traveling, said that selling the business to Deaver and Francis “was a great fit. I like that we have the same feelings about customer service and the community.”
Neither Deaver nor Francis are stylists. They combined their collective business backgrounds in retail sales and customer service to open Chroma, and decided to affiliate with Aveda because of the company’s commitment to environmental sustainability and its high-quality, mostly organic product lines. They chose the name Chroma because “it means the intensity of color,” Deaver said. “We want to be known as the hair color experts.”
Aveda color products are up to 99 percent naturally derived from plants and use less ammonia that most traditional coloring products, so are better for both the customer and the environment, they note. Deaver and Francis said they believe that the Aveda line — which includes a wide range of skin care and makeup products in addition to hair care — is also a good fit for Edmonds, given the community’s environmentally-minded citizens. As a company, Aveda doesn’t just celebrate Earth Day but sets aside the entire month of April for clean water projects, they noted. Deaver and Francis donate locally to the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, which patrols and monitors water quality in Puget Sound.
Chroma is also the only Aveda-affiliated salon in Edmonds.
Edmonds Chroma Salon employees include full-time stylist Tina Redmond, who recently moved here from Oregon, and salon manager Cat Eastman, an Edmonds resident who stayed on with the new owners after working for Sarvis. Salon services include Aveda specialties like a scalp massage with every hair cut and a hand massage with hair coloring; facial waxing and skin care services are also offered.
Expect to see new Chroma Salon signage soon, but until then you can look for the Salon 512 sign at 512 5th Ave. S. Hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday and Saturdays 9 a.m.-4 pm. The salon number is 425-776-5055.
Phone number? =)
Thanks for the reminder, Pat. I’ll add it to the article but the number is: 425-776-5055
Hi Pat, thanks for pointing that out. The number is the same; 425-776-5055.
Also a BIG THANK YOU to the Edmonds community for all of your support the past 18 years. I’m very pleased to welcome Chroma Salon and Aveda to our Edmonds community. Please stop in to sample Aveda’s soothing herbal tea while you browse the full line of Aveda products.