Emerson Salon is changing ownership and downsizing come September. The salon located on E Pike just off Broadway will switch to self-employed stylists working in a common space under the Emerson banner.

“I want people to understand that we are a lot of individuals that are trying to work together for a common goal where we are all successful,” D’Arcy Harrison, one of the new owners, tells CHS.

Harrison and Lancer Forney are both stylists at Emerson Salon and are taking over ownership on the new lease. Emerson was founded by neighborhood entrepreneur and investor Alex Garcia. Garcia has seen his local investments dwindle with the Emerson changes and 2013’s closure of The Social on E Olive Way.

Harrison and Forney say they have been small business owners in the past and are determined to get it right this time. Both have participated in business training programs through the south Seattle non-profit Washington CASH.

Sustaining a living wage on a stylist’s salary can be tricky since there are dips in clientele throughout the year, the new owners say. A stylist must save in times of flux to have enough when there are fewer people in chairs such as after the holidays.

Harrison and Forney’s business plan is to cut overhead costs by having their eight to nine stylists be self-employed where they rent a station and pay for the products they use.

The salon is downsizing as well with a wall to go up sectioning off about half of the salon.

Emerson Salon opened in 2008 in the space that has been a salon under different ownership for two decades.

Visit emersonsalon.com for more information or visit 909 E Pike.