There’s now another place on East Passyunk Avenue to rock out.
The Heavy Metal Hair Salon became the newest attraction to the trendy avenue after owner Brittany Evans opened up shop on June 26.
Leather seats line the floor, and lightning bolts and neon signs dominate the walls as part of the sleek design. Motley Crue Radio conquers the sound system, although at a manageable level.
It’s just how Evans, 31, envisioned it when she dreamed of owning her own hair salon since high school.
In March, it became a reality as she signed a lease to open her first business, although stores were forced to shut down shortly after, due to COVID-19. She just had to sweat it out a little bit longer
“I was discouraged because I didn’t know when we’d be able to open,” Evans said. “With all my dreams of owning my own salon, I was wondering, is this even realistic anymore? At times, I regretted signing the lease. But now that we’re up and working, I feel amazing.”
Cue the music.
Evans, herself, embodies the heavy metal lifestyle. Sporting long, bright pink hair, tattoos and a Metallica T-shirt, Evans appears to be missing only an electric guitar as she styles hair. But her beauty school background and 15 years of experience certainly make her qualified to run her own shop.
“I have an all-star team here,” she said. “I have girls who crush curly haircuts. Others specialize in color. We all have our own little thing and we can accommodate anyone.”
She has a staff of four stylists and a makeup artist and is up to any task — whether it’s a rebellious misfit look for a young headbanger or something more clean cut and suitable for a bigtime job interview, Evans and her crew are up to the challenge.
“Even though it’s the Heavy Metal Hair Salon, we do everything,” Evans said with a laugh. “I had someone call the other day and ask if we do normal hair and we do. We do it all. But I do really like coloring and giving crazy, shaggy cuts.”
Evans completed beauty school at the same time she graduated high school by taking classes simultaneously and worked in small hair salons to save up money to buy her own place. Evans said she even worked in single-chair salons for $5 an hour.
The year 2020 was set to be a huge one with the opening of the salon and her wedding with Olde City Tattoo owner Jason Goldberg, which was scheduled to be in Las Vegas in August.
Suddenly, she was looking at a delayed business opening, the task of homeschooling her 6-year-old as schools abruptly closed, and canceling a rather large destination wedding in Sin City, which will now take place in 2021. Evans found strength in teaching her son and teaching herself valuable business tools during the time off.
“Homeschooling my son has really kept me on track,” Evans said. “It didn’t let me get in any slump of depression or anything. I had to keep going for him and keep him on track. This salon gave me something to look forward to. I learned how to build a website and start a business. I took every day to learn something new and figure this all out.”
Renovations weren’t difficult, as the property had been a salon for 30 years. Some interior decorating was needed to match Evans’ personality and theme. It blends in perfectly to a hip section of town in which Evans also resides.
“It’s such a perfect location because it’s such a great community,” Evans said. “There’s clothes stores, restaurants and other salons. I love it. There’s always something to do.”
The Heavy Metal Hair Salon is located at 1604 E. Passyunk Ave., and is currently taking customers by appointment only as it follows social distancing guidelines.
So far, business is good, with a wide variety of hairstyles continuing to walk out the door after a day at the salon. And a larger group of foot traffic continues to peer into the large front window with curiosity. The customer list keeps growing.
“I’ve had some musicians, wrestlers, moms,” Evans said. “I just want everyone to come in and feel comfortable … and listen to good music, of course.”
