Penticton businesses expand into bigger storefronts with growth in self-care industry

Two local female-owned Penticton businesses are celebrating their move into new, bigger spaces after the boom in the beauty industry has grown service demand.

Beauty and the Blade hosted their grand opening on Saturday, welcoming returning and new clients into its location on Westminster Avenue.

Owner, CEO and artist Lucy Anderson said it was exciting to see the business flourish to where it is today.

The permanent makeup business started as a home-based studio and grew over its first two years, shifting services into a studio space on Main Street, that it soon outgrew.

“We found this space and thought we could make it into something really great,” Anderson said. “My vision for the business was always to build a one-stop shop and to have something that was able to incorporate so many other services and not just myself in there.”

Her studio now hosts spaces for other artists to work too, from lashes, permanent eyeliner and lip blush to teeth whitening, line tattoos and scar camouflage.

“I've come from something where I've grown it on my own and now I'm able to help all the other women that are here now working for us, established their own businesses. So they're all running their own businesses in this space, and I'm able to help or nurture and mentor them to grow their own businesses,” she added.

Another business opening up its doors for the next generation is parked right next store, at Heiress Salon & Boutique, at its new location.

Owner and operator Lindsay Ellis said she felt their salon and hairstylist school needed an expansion from their Front Street shop.

“Just getting stylists or employees was something that we were a little bit worried about. So we thought we would need to expand and actually create an academy so that we can start filtering more stylists into our community and our salon,” she said.

Both business owners said they have seen the industry growth impact their businesses for the better.

“The beauty industry as a whole, it's just expanding into something so huge now, there's no end to it,” Anderson said. “I think people are actually spending more time on themselves."

“I think with COVID and everything that's happened, self-care was something that was probably pushed on every level to the bottom. As a mum, my life was never about self-care. It was always just going to the next appointment going to the next sport, going to the next event,” Ellis added.

The increase in demand may also come from the pressures of social media.

“We're all about encouraging natural beauty here. We don't want anybody to look fake or anything like that…We're about enhancing what you already have,” Anderson said.

Although both businesses largely cater to female clientele, they welcome everyone to come through their doors.

“This is an inclusive space for people from all walks of life. So there's no judgment here,” Anderson said.