ad

Local beauty salon rehomed

Local beauty salon rehomed

Natasha Smits bought her business 10 years ago. It had already run as a beauty clinic in Southbank for 17 years.

She rebranded as Natasha’s Skin Spa and the business established itself as part of the Southbank community. But for years Natasha has been trying to relocate.

“I was in an old shopping arcade that was very run down and poorly maintained with a landlord that had just land banked it and wasn’t really interested in supporting the businesses there,” Natasha said.

“We wanted to offer our clients a better experience, we wanted to offer Southbank the services that I believe it deserves – those community touch points where you can go and share experiences and have services done just like you would if you lived somewhere else.”

Two months ago, Natasha found that place. She was sent a lifeline by Southbank’s biggest developer, responsible for 50 per cent of the suburb’s residential space.

“We went to Central Equity and they basically saved us,” Natasha said. Her business now sits at 171 City Rd.

“We were able to get a really great position with them that is really accessible to people and has great amenity. We’re not out on the street, we’ve got a beautiful space and everything has just been growing since we’re been here.”

Central Equity director Karl Kutner said the company was happy to help Natasha and felt a duty to the developing community in Southbank that she represented.

“We were the first to develop in Southbank and we always feel like it’s our community,” he said.

“The first convenience stores here we ran as a business to provide for the developing community, so we always try and get small businesses more activation and residents to enjoy the area.”

Natasha said she spent five years looking for the right place because she wanted to make the right decision.

“We’re not here as a short-term situation, we’ve been servicing Southbank for 27 years now and we want to be here for another 27 years,” she said.

“We had a lot of options to move a bit further out but I was really committed to Southbank.”

When Natasha bought the business as a 27-year-old she also moved to Southbank and has lived here since.

“I was young when I bought it and the community really supported and got behind me.”

She said she spent a lot of time converting the business from a standard community beauty salon to a specialised, holistic one.

“It’s not fair how few services Southbank has. People here don’t have the options they have in other places. That’s why we we’re so committed to staying here.”

Join our Facebook Group
ad