The Barn in Loxton, Somerset, is closing it's doors for good this month after 15 years of trading.
Based just outside the world famous village of Cheddar, owner Kelly Hooper opened The Barn in 2008 with a bank loan for £25,000. Lots of hard work and 30 employees later, including single Mum Kelly's daughter who was 7 when The Barn opened, and The Barn has earned a name for itself as a true Destination Salon, featuring many high end treatments.
Therefore, locals and customers from further afield alike were devastated to receive an email a couple of weeks ago telling them it was time for the luxury beauty treatment salon to shut, citing "ill health, burnout, extreme sudden grief and loss on more than one account". That's of course on top of weathering the storm of a pandemic which saw them need to shut for 9 months, and then overcome people's hesitation of going back to such close proximity leisure activities. The Pandemic has left them with plenty of debt and loans, alongside which they cite electricity bills as "a mortgage in themselves".
Their last day is Saturday 20th May, and if you haven't got an appointment already you're going to be hard pushed to get one - although you could try asking to join their cancellation list. They've also got 10% off some luxury beauty products in their shop, which stocks brands such as Dermalogica and Medik8.
Many of the staff are going to pastures new or opening their own salons, so if you have a favourite therapist, now's the time to get in touch with them and find out whether they're going. Kelly herself is going to go back to her key love which is skin, and going solo to open a private skin clinic. You can follow her Instagram for more info here.
