Health, Beauty and Lifestyle with Denise McNamara

There’s a website that tracks the closure of businesses in the city over the last while. It makes for depressing reading. Among the ones documented over the last few years are a collection of much-loved hairdressers – Barry’s closed its Shop Street premises after half a century of tending to locks while Yourells, which had a presence on Eyre Street for over two decades, shut its shutters in 2022 during the pandemic, consolidating branches in Oranmore and Moycullen.

Queen Hair, Renaissance and Koztello in the Galway Shopping Centre have also quit. Finding staff, huge rents and the massive city rates appear to be behind the trend to either opt for a new trade or head off to different locations out the country.

So, when I heard that two former hairdressers in Barry’s have taken the leap of opening in what was the former David Martin’s salon in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre, I was curious to check them out.

Tucked in beside the Magic Shop and Flying Tiger on the first floor, not far from Penney’s, is The Hair Collective, a light-filled, compact hair salon which is the perfect size for two hairdressers. And that is just the way they want to keep it, explains co-owner Deborah Fleming.

“We had decided to open our own salon for a long time but couldn’t find anywhere suitable. Luckily we were going before Barry’s closed. We wanted to be fairly central for clients coming in from the west or east of the city.

“David Martin had a salon here for a good while so it was a salon ready to go only and only empty since Christmas and we moved in last March. The size was ideal for us. There are only two of us, I’ve a few friends who own salons and their biggest advice was to try not have more staff – that’s where all the headaches and stress come in.”

Her business partner Polly Tait has a masters in colour so colour correction is a particular speciality. Both stylists do all the usual hair services such as cutting, colouring and styling.

Deborah worked in Barry’s for eight years while Polly was there for seven years – both are natives of Wexford.

Deborah has another string to her bow as she is a qualified trichologist having studied a two-year diploma in London. She opened the Trichology Clinic called The Scalp Room in Barry’s offering advice and treatment for hair loss, hair thinning and scalp disorders. She is also trained to give advice, supply and fit hair pieces and wigs and is a HSE registered wig specialist.

Pictured: Deborah Fleming and Polly Tait at the opening of their new salon, The Hair Collective in the Eyre Square Shopping Centre.