Penny Lane Salon Is Stylist’s First Venture in Small Business

While she’s spent her entire career building her skills and clientele as a hair stylist in Centralia, Mary Nowicki said she never planned on opening her own business.

“It was scary but it’s been worth it,” she said. 

Nowicki’s first foray into the world of small business ownership, Penny Lane Salon, opened its doors in May at 501 W. Main St. in Centralia. 

Nowicki graduated from Centralia High School in 2000 and has worked as a hair stylist in Centralia for about 14 years, building her clientele along the way. She said she wants the salon to be a fun but professional place to get a haircut or color.

Her interest in cutting and coloring hair started at an early age, she said. 

“I used to do Cabbage Patch dolls’ hair as a kid,” she said. “I always wanted to do it.”

Penny Lane Salon’s location has ensured a steady stream of walk-in clients. The area was previously a barber shop for 20 years, Nowicki said. 

“It’s cool. I get all the guys,” she said. 

To cater to the regular walk-ins, Nowicki and the salon’s other stylist, Tawny Coulter, keep Mondays’ and Tuesdays’ schedules open for walk-ins all day, and most days they’re very busy, she said. 

Nowicki named the salon in honor of her grandmother Penny, rather than the song by The Beatles, she said, but said customers enjoy the title.

In the future, Nowicki hopes to expand with another stylist. 

“I would love to get a barber,” she said. “I would love to offer shaves.”

The salon is open six days a week with evening openings by appointment.

“But I do not miss my kids’ games,” she said.

Nowicki’s specialty is color, particularly the popular Balayage, in which a stylist “paints” color on hair to create a gradual lightening of color. 

While Nowicki was scared to start her own business, she now says it’s been a “blessing.”

“It took me a long time to get where I am,” she said. “It took me a long time to get as serious as I am about it.”