by staff
Downtown workers and residents will soon have a new upscale spa for haircuts, massages, manicures and other treatments. JM Salon de Art and Taylor Lane & Co. Day Spa is opening in an elegant ground floor gallery-style space in The Plaza Condominium at Berkman Plaza & Marina. This new salon and spa marks the beginning of the creative partnership between professional hair stylist, John Mario, and spa owner, Pammy Taylor.
Taylor, who left her job as an accountant 11 years ago to pursue a career in the spa industry, was looking to capture the relatively untapped downtown market when she crossed paths with Mario, a highly experienced salon veteran.
“The first time we met there was this amazing chemistry between us,” said Taylor. “I knew I wanted to work with this guy.”
Because Taylor’s passion is for the spa side of the business while Mario’s expertise is in the field of hair, the fusion of their talents may prove a good fit.
“It only makes sense that we should bring all our strong points together so that we can offer a truly superior experience to our customers,” said Taylor.
With two locations already established at the Beaches and in the Avenues Mall, opening a salon and spa at The Plaza will give the spa a third location in a growing market. According to the company’s marketing director, Jarod M. Hardwick, due to its upscale location at The Plaza and extensive range of luxury services, the downtown JM Salon de Art and Taylor Lane & Co. Day Spa is designed to attract visitors to Jacksonville and it’s downtown businesses.
The location will offer a full range of salon and spa services including: hair styling, coloring, and straightening, all modalities of massage, full body waxing, laser hair removal, manicures and pedicures, and seasonal wraps, facials and body treatments.
“But all three locations will still have a similar feeling and atmosphere,” said Hardwick. “We want our customers to feel comfortable at any location.”
As for the downtown salon’s decor, Mario is confident that his customers will feel most comfortable surrounded by an ever-changing display of fine art.
“I’ve always envisioned the art of styling hair and the art on my walls to be the same,” said Mario. “I take a lot of my vision and inspiration from art, whether it’s the art of an immaculately landscaped garden, an oil painting in a gallery, or the architecture of a classical building.”
In order to keep his creative juices flowing, Mario plans on rotating the displayed artwork each month, as well as incorporating the gallery-style space into downtown’s monthly Art Walk events.
“You might come down to our salon during an Art Walk and find the art isn’t on the walls, but on women’s heads,” said Mario. “The possibilities are endless.”
Taylor and Mario’s vision is to provide clients with a total package experience that goes beyond the offerings of a typical salon and spa.