New kid on the block: Trade Studio Co. opens in Valemount
By Rachel Fraser
Valemount’s newest salon, Trade Studio Co., offers a fresh option for those looking to elevate their aesthetic. Tiara Rich opened her new salon at the beginning of October, between the climbing gym and Vale Coffee on Main Street.
Rich renovated and decorated the space herself, in a boho-minimalist style. The service menu includes the full range of hair services as well as lash and brow treatments. Spray tanning has just been added to the salon’s offerings.
While she’s always wanted her own salon, the road to this accomplishment has been winding. Originally from McBride, Rich’s hair journey started before the end of high school. She was accepted to hair school in grade 11 and took courses by correspondence to graduate early.
After working in Edmonton salons for a bit, she returned to the Valley, working at Unique Boutique until moving to Grande Prairie for several years.
Grande Prairie was a period of career growth and refinement. From there, Rich moved to Prince George, where she just did hair out of her home for friends while growing her family. During COVID-19, she took lash courses.
She was a stay-at-home mom after moving back to Valemount, and when she ventured back into the workforce, it was not in hair, but in unrelated business management.
“I decided (managing those businesses) wasn’t for me and I kinda just did the really scary thing,” she said about the decision to open her own salon.
Among the elements that make Rich and Trade Studio Co. stand out is the Redken product line, a unique higher end offering in the Valley, as well as the salon’s focus on lash and brow services. These include brow shaping, lamination and tinting, lash lifts, tints and extensions. Brow lamination is like a perm for your brows, Rich says, shaping them up to look fuller and cleaner.
“I’m multi-certified in all styles of lash extensions, as well,” she said. There are other practitioners offering some of these services locally, but not all, and not the full range all in one spot.
As a hairstylist, she also has extensive training in blonding and grey blending.
A key feature of Trade Studio Co. is that bookings are entirely online through the user-friendly platform accessed on the salon’s website, https://trade-studio-co.square.site/.
Rich said she can take walk-ins if she’s in the salon and has the availability, and that the salon has a cell phone she keeps with her if people need to get in touch, but she noted that the booking platform shows all available spots with the ability to book up to an hour prior to the desired appointment, and provides details on the services with the full pricing breakdown.
The salon doesn’t have set hours for now, which allows a lot of flexibility to both Rich and her clients. She is currently the sole stylist at Trade Studio Co., but hopes to bring on another stylist soon.
Rich is pleased with how business has been since opening.
“It’s been great. I really couldn’t ask for anything better.”