When Kaila Landau first placed her “Salon coming soon” sign outside her Little Shop of Hairdos at 6283 Old Olympic Highway, she thought that “I would do a couple of haircuts a day, and I would paint the walls in between clients.”
“I thought it would be slow, and would just kind of grow slowly over time,” she said.
But the community instantly responded.
Like many people, Landau and her husband Jens Titterness had noticed the old ceramics shop and its adjoining house, at the junction of Carlsborg Road and Old Olympic Highway.
With her husband being from the area and his parents living in Sequim, the couple had driven by the property a lot, and they decided “it was a good place to have a business,” Landau said.
They bought the property, which included the recently renovated house and moved from Seattle with their three daughters.
“When we bought the shop, we knew it was gonna be a lot of work,” Landau said.
“There was carpet on the floor. The lights didn’t work. The electrical panel was in disrepair. There weren’t light switches. The light switches were actually broken off. So we bought the shop knowing it was going to need a whole remodel before we could really operate.
“But we really liked the house, and we knew it was going to be really visible.”
They bought the property in July of 2023, simultaneous with Landau opening her first Little Shop of Hairdos in Seattle.
“I didn’t know what it was going to be like over here,” Landau said.
She had loyal clients in Seattle, and knew she could rely on business there, while here “I had this shell of a building … I didn’t know if I would even have anybody who wanted a haircut,” Landau said.
“I hoped… I had my fingers crossed when I put that hand-painted sign out that somebody would walk in the door.”
Since then, the salon has been booked “open to close, except during the major freeze of last January,” Landau said.
From left, stylist Sarah Fueschel, owner Talia Landau and apprentice Kimmy Jackson, are the trio manning the salon Little Shop of Hairdos in Sequim, which recently celebrated its first anniversary and is looking for another stylist for the team.
Anniversary
Little Shop of Hairdos celebrated its one year anniversary on Nov. 12th and in that time has become a thriving business with Landau, stylist Sarah Fueschel and apprentice Kimmy Jackson welcoming clients five days a week.
They are looking for an additional stylist for a few days a week, including a weekend day.
The shop is open 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, and by appointment Saturdays.
Landau, her employees and clients credit the success to a few factors.
Location is one key, also there are not enough hair salons in Sequim, Landau said. “I hear it all the time in the chair, that there’s not enough services out there for people.”
Customers reiterated that experience when asked how they found the salon.
“I had a really hard time finding a place to get into,” customer Mya Hackett said. “Then Talia opened her shop and I’ve been coming here ever since.”
She saw the sign while driving by and said service and quality of hair care has been “wonderful.”
Sharon McBeth said she lives nearby and goes “by here 10 times a day” and feels lucky to be Landau’s client.
“It’s hard to get into places,” she said.
Another client, who wished to remain anonymous, said they were attracted to the shop by their website expressing that staff listen to what the client wants.
“I would say our primary focus here is listening to our clients and delivering the hair that our clients are actually asking for,” Landau said. “Most people know what they want. Our goal is to make sure that you have hair that works for you and works for your life.”
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Little Shop of Hairdos owner Talia Landau has found, since putting out her sign outside the shop on the junction of Carlsborg Road and Old Olympic Highway, that hair salon clients in Sequim are eager for more stylists. She says she has been booked non-stop except during for the big freeze last January.
Love of hairdos
Landau said that she loves cutting hair — “that’s one of the things I really enjoy doing and I also love foiling.”
The shop is known for dimensional color, a technique that uses a combination of shades and tones to create depth, contrast, and movement in hair.
Licensed stylist Fueschel has been a licensed cosmetologist and esthetician for 12 years.
“Sarah is a color specialist, and she does a lot of dimensional blonding, and she’s a fantastic haircutter, too,” Landau said.
Jackson has been onboard since October as a paid apprentice under the Atarashii program.
She said Landau is “intent on inclusion and making sure everyone feels good.”
“I feel like I can bring my grandma here for a haircut as well as my partner,” Jackson said. “It’s important to me that everyone has a place to feel beautiful and good about themselves.”
Jackson said Landau is a thoughtful boss who “puts a lot of care into how she runs her business.”
“She is investing in me,” Jackson said.
Jackson added that Little Shop of Hairdos is also part of a growing trend among hair salons to be tip (or gratuity) free.
While more common in Seattle than on the Olympic Peninsula, Landau said by charging slightly higher prices and not accepting tips, salon owners can offer more benefits to their employees, such as higher wages, paid vacation and health insurance.
And the story behind the name Little Shop of Hairdos?
“I love musicals,” Landau said, “and I was trying to think of something that would catch people’s attention.
“Number one, be memorable. Number two, let people know that it’s a little bit different.”
Little Shop of Hairdos
6283 Old Olympic Highway, Sequim
Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday;
By appointment Saturdays
Talia Landau, owner and stylist (360) 477-5015
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Talia Landau, owner of Little Shop of Hairdos, put this sign out – minus the “tanning” – on the first day her hair salon was open and has been booked ever since. Soon she will put it out to advertise the new tanning bed.
Photo courtesy of Talia Landau / A before shot of the side room and future location of washing stations at Little Shop of Hairdos.
Photo courtesy of Talia Landau / A before shot of main room in the Little Shop of Hairdos.
Sequim Gazette photo by Emily Matthiessen/ Stylist Sarah Fueschel at work in the Little Shop of Hairdos.
