Elite Suites Salon Studios grow
Filled suites, business expansion and a second location set to open
After opening almost a year ago, Elite Suites Salon Studios has filled its suites and is looking to open another location, said Kimberly Garrison Hennessy, owner and CEO of Elite Suites.
Garrison Hennessy and husband, Sean Hennessy, partnered at 10536 Kingston Pike, next to Walker Collision Repair near Farragut, on May 7, 2016. Since then, the business expanded its space in January and has 23 business owners.
“We are doing well,” Garrison Hennessy said. “It’s actually amazing. We are completely full and we are very thankful for that. I think we are passionate about it, and that makes a
difference.
“We’re hoping to open our second location in Powell in about a year,” she said. “We would like to see three or four more suites in other areas, and we hope to franchise.”
Each business owner in Elite Suites operates his or her own business, Garrison Hennessy said. Customers find anything from hair salons to aestheticians who use such products as Juvéderm and Botox, to massage therapists, a clothing boutique and a sunless spray tanning salon.
“Our goal is to be a one-stop shop,” she said. “We provide businesses the opportunity to be business owners without the traditional startup costs.
“We provide everything a business owner needs to start his
or her business,” she added. “We provide equipment, cabinetry, furnishings and guest concierge service to take care of guests when they come in.
“We take care of marketing, accounting, especially for those who haven’t opened a business before.”
“[The business owners] set their own prices and hours, choose their own product retail lines,” she said. “They get to decorate their suite any way they like.”
Garrison Hennessy has been in the salon business for 12 years. She first opened a traditional hair salon, which she operated for several years before she got an offer to work as a school director at Paul Mitchell cosmetology school and did that for several years.
“Then I decided I just wanted to be back in my own business again,” she said. “We saw that suites are kind of the new trend. You see it a lot in larger cities and it’s becoming popular in Knoxville, so we thought it would be a good business model for us.
“We looked at many locations, but this was high-traffic — we get a lot of walk-in traffic — and we like the Farragut area,” Garrison Hennessy added. “I think we are centrally located.”
John Barnes, owner of Salon Do or Dye in Elite Suites, said he was in another suite for about three years when he found Garrison Hennessy.
“It was something Knoxville didn’t have,” Barnes said. “This is not like work; it’s like a family. All my clients love it. They love the atmosphere. It’s very open and inviting.”
Jennifer Beard, owner of Orange Chic Boutique, said her sister was working for Garrison Hennessy.
“We maintained a relationship,” Beard said. Her boutique business previously was online but she decided to move it to Elite Suites. She sells women’s clothing from small to 3X and shoes.
“We feel like it’s a different fit here,” she said. “It’s been a wonderful experience. It’s like family.”
For more information about Elite Suites, call 865-406-9170, e-mail to elitesuitestn@gmail.com or visit elitesuitessalon.com
