Approximately seven months ago, The Journal came to know the franchise that was set to replace the former MGM Wine and Spirits off of East Point Douglas Road in Cottage Grove. At that point, constructing Salons By JC Cottage Grove was not yet possible. In March, however, owners Karen and Ron Ruckdashel obtained a building permit from The City of Cottage Grove. Transformations to the ceiling began. By the final days of June, the State of Minnesota granted the Ruckdashels permission to begin plumbing in the ground. After that, tiled and painted walls evolved from a layout plan, tin and electrical intervention. Next, new flooring was plotted throughout during the weekend of August 14 and 15. On August 16, the Ruckdashels revealed to The Journal that construction of Salons By JC Cottage Grove would be finished by September 1. As electrical wiring, furniture, plumbing fixtures, coffee bars, and a motorized photo booth backdrop are installed over the following days, Karen and Ron Ruckdashel are raising the bar for salon suite brands.

The leadership of Salons By JC Cottage Grove is distinct. For over three decades, Karen Ruckdashel has been contributing to the beauty industry. Her pursuit of cosmetology initiated at Hastings Beauty School. She went on to make a living at an open-floor salon for 26 years. Succeeding that, Karen became her own boss at Salons By JC Apple Valley. According to her spouse, Karen is an atypical Salons By JC leader. “Most franchise owners are just investors or entrepreneurs,” Ron claimed in an interview with The Journal. “She’s probably the only owner of Salons By JC that actually comes from the industry… and currently works in the industry.”

Due to this fact, the Ruckdashels would like their approach at running Salons By JC Cottage Grove to differ that of others. Karen imagined, “I expect to be folding towels and capes for my suite owners when they need it…all the different support aspects that go into a salon facility…I don’t know that you get that in a general suite environment…‘What can we do to really serve the professional?’ is…a lot of what’s behind this endeavor for us.”

The ways in which the new franchise has assisted and will assist professionals are aplenty. 42 suites occupy Salons By JC Cottage Grove. As of August 16, 40% of them had been leased to beauty business owners. Three-fifths of the rooms remain available to other local cosmetologists and estheticians.

The professionals will always have access to their suites. This is courtesy of the security system that was inserted the afternoon that The Journal visited. Anytime suite leasers have their key fob, they will be able to improve upon their space. The educational opportunities that Salons By JC Cottage Grove are offering to workers are notable as well. On August 1, the Ruckdashels invited their professionals to The Myers-Thrivent. There, they were coached by representatives from Merchants Bank and US Bank on business banking and payment processing. Local supply representatives such as Salon Centric, Cosmo Prof, and Salon Service Group interacted with the women. On top of that, they had the opportunity to speak with business experts and interior designers.

Even a concept as simple as allowing cosmetologists and estheticians a choice in sink color is causing Salons By JC Cottage Grove to stand out. Karen justified, “Usually everything is very uniform. It’s either all white or [all black]…I currently have a white sink; I prefer black sinks. And so, I was like, ‘Why can’t we do a little bit of both?’” “But yeah, we’re building this for the professional.”

Salons By JC Cottage Grove will meet the demands of guests. In the corporation’s history, the maximum ratio of specialty to hair suites was one to four. Ron claimed that 35% of the Cottage Grove location suite leasers conduct specialty services. He noted the significance of the statistic: “When the whole concept of salon suites was developed 20 years ago, it was just for the hair industry… you didn’t have very much of any of the other services even existed at that point! And they’ve really just taken off.”

While tending to the demand for specialty and hair jobs, the Ruckdashels have been mindfully placing them in Salons By JC Cottage Grove. The front rooms will host the “most active,” or noisy, services. “Calm and quiet” ones like massages and facials will occur in the rear. Additionally, the franchise will cater to the diverse needs of Cottage Grove and surrounding areas. People of the BIPOC community will be building their brands at Salons By JC Cottage Grove. Braiding, textured hair care, hair color, men’s grooming, children’s cuts, and extensions will occur at one center in this town.

On August 16, progress on a motorized photo booth was unfolding. When it is complete, it will consist of a motor and multiple panels of disntinct patterns. Guests will be able to select a background and snap a photo of their or their loved one’s new look. The photo booth may elevate the professionals’ businesses, too. Ron demonstrated, “They’ve all got their Instagrams and everything going, but it’s always that same head of hair by that same brick wall…And I thought, how much fun to be able to switch that up.”

The photo booth is situated in the commons space-one of Salons By JC Cottage Grove’s features that is raising structural expectations for salon suite brands. Ron informed The Journal of its exclusivity: “…that whole lounge common space area is a very new concept…Salons By JC just instituted that a year and a half ago.”

The commons space is being prepared in the hub of the building. Crews are working towards placing a television, floating ceiling, chandelier, table with outlets, and coffee and water station there. All of that will be adjacent to a “unique” processing nook. Karen spoke on the perks of her commons space when she stated, “Classic styling would be benches in the hallways [where] people could wait. We eliminated that with having this reception lounge… We took it one step further… we’ll set up…hairdryers and all of that kind of stuff so that our professionals are able to stack clients…[and] they’re not crowded in the hallways. And this is also where we could do some education or some community- event-type things.”

Extra amenities that are under- construction and special about Salons By JC Cottage Grove include a touchless directory and gender-neutral restrooms.

The men of BHLServices Inc. are responsible for the structural progress made on the franchise. As of recently, the crews have been working strenuously. This is because Minnesota had lost the Ruckdashels’ request to secure a plumbing permit in the spring. One month of waiting for state permission to get into the ground was added to the timeline. Job Supervisor Scott recounted what happened once the plumbing permit arrived: “Yeah, [for] six weeks we’ve been back on site. We’ve built walls and [covered] floors. So yeah, that’s about where we’re at is just go, go, go! They got an open date. I haven’t missed one yet. This one’s going to be close. So, we’re just moving forward.”

The “open date” that Scott alluded to is September 1. Salons By JC Cottage Grove’s professionals are already booking appointments for that week and beyond. Readers who are interested in treating themselves to a beauty service then can navigate to salonsbyjc. com/salon-services/?location= minnesota-cottage-grove.

Tuesday, October 5 is the day in which Salons By JC Cottage Grove will have their ribbon cutting ceremony. The community is invited! Here is what they can expect from the evening in Karen’s words: “…each one of the suite owners will be able to showcase their suite and meet people and network…I’m hoping that we’ll be able to do some stuff out back…or in this [commons space]…The mayor will be here for the ribbon cutting at 3:30 and it will carry on for a couple of hours.”

To date, The Journal has held two conversations with Salons By JC Cottage Grove. Between the interviews in January and August, major progress has ensued on the site, leasing suites, and brainstorming community events. In the midst of it all, Karen and Ron Ruckdashel have maintained one aspiration. “We’re hoping that we bring something special, something extra, through our professionals and through our building design.”

The concierge will have a desk here soon. Concierges make Salons By JC “unique” from other companies. Photo by Sadie Jones