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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Northern Flair Beauty Salon owner Rhonda Larocque has never considered herself a shrewd businessperson, but that didn't stop her from taking an entrepreneurial opportunity when she saw it.

Rhonda Larocque is selling the Northern Flair Beauty Salon, located inside Yk Centre. - Thandiwe Vela/NNSL photo

Larocque was a hairstylist at Northern Flair in 1989 when her boss put the YK Centre beauty shop up for sale.

The young hairdresser from Manitoba had been working at the salon since 1976, and wanted to keep her job.

"When the boss decided she wanted to sell it, she said 'you're a fool not to buy it,' so, I did," Larocque said. "I still wanted to keep on hairdressing, and it's easier if you own it than it is to take on a new boss."

More than 20 years later, Larocque has put the downtown beauty salon up for sale, seeking retirement.

The shop, which is usually busy with perms and colour treatments, has adapted to the hairdressing industry to stay open over the years, but has never gone flashy or catered to any one clientele, Larocque said.

"It's from babies up to seniors," she said. "We don't blare music and stuff like that, it's a comfortable atmosphere."

Many clients have stayed with Northern Flair for several years, making it difficult for Larocque to leave her business.

"I've had some customers for over 30 years," she said. "I'm definitely going to miss the customers; most of them are like close friends now; I've known some of them for so long. That I'm really going to miss but I'm not going to miss the management end."

While Larocque describes the business as fun and social, staffing has increasingly been an issue.

"There used to be lots of hairdressers around, now there isn't," she said, adding the talent has also been spread out by the increase in beauty salons in town—from just three or four in the early days to more than a dozen now.

As a result, Larocque knows first-hand that it's best if a buyer shows up for Northern Flair who is also a hairdresser, "because if you have problems with your staff, or end up with no staff, you can still run it," she said.

Northern Flair was also put up for sale in 2010, when Larocque's husband retired.

There has been some recent interest in purchasing the business, she said, but prospective buyers have been hesitant about taking on the responsibility.

"It's a good business, somebody should take the plunge," she said.

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