Image Credits: Emily R. Condon for The Campus Trainer
Seven months after the Feb. 3 fire that abruptly closed the storefront of a beloved hair salon in the College Park community, Today’s Hair opened its doors Aug. 27, inviting Terps to return for cuts.
“They treat you like family when you step through the door. It's great to see a familiar face back in College Park, even with all the masks on,” shared Tony Cabral, a senior journalism major, who got his haircut the day before the fire.
Today’s Hair reopened at the end of August. For owner Pola Kry, the seven months felt long, as she awaited the completion of the rebuilding schedule. Now, she has a completely new salon and furniture, as everything in the old salon was destroyed by the fire. Kry hopes that students at the University of Maryland will return to support her small business with its new amenities. She even got a new sign, which features the Maryland flag and UMD colors to reflect school spirit.
Image Credits: Emily R. Condon for The Campus Trainer
“We are back, and I hope the students will come back to support us because we have been open for seven weeks now,” Kry said.
One factor that helped with reopening the salon was a GoFundMe started by a patron.
“It helped a lot. I really appreciated the GoFundMe. That keeps me coming back to work. And also it was very nice of my clients that supported us through this difficult time that we went through [unexpectedly]. It helped us a lot,” Kry said.
Mary E. Warneka, Associate Director of Learning Experience at the University of Maryland’s Teaching & Learning Transformation Center, has been a longtime customer of Today’s Hair along with her family for over a decade, so she started the GoFundMe after the fire. The GoFundMe successfully surpassed its goal of $27,000, with donations from 257 donors.
Warneka’s GoFundMe expressed that 2020 was a hard year for the small business - as for many small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic - and urged customers to donate saying, “All those haircuts you never got during 2020? - Add it up and pass that money their way!”
Warneka even helped Pola by scheduling “backyard cuts” with her friends to help support the business when it did not have a storefront.
Image Credit: Courtesy of Mary Warneka
“The GoFundMe hit the first ceiling we set, but the permits were not in and the repairs on their shop had not even yet begun. We raised the goal amount and kept drumming up as much support for them as we could. With 3/4 of their family's income comingfrom the shop, we knew that the fund was really just a drop in the bucket for what they needed, so it never really felt like enough,” Warneka said.
The accident occurred shortly after 1 P.M. on Feb. 3, due to a fire in a kitchen exhaust system. The fire department quickly reported to the scene and took actions to stop the fire. This incident cost approximately $125,000 for the owners, between the property damage and material loss including.
For members of the College Park community, the return of Today’s Hair indicates a returned sense of normalcy for the community.
“They are thankfully back open and rebuilding their client base. Construction from the building behind them has taken away their parking and the fencing makes it hard to see their storefront. A new store sign and a canvas banner on the fence have helped, but they still have lots of availability for walk-in clients,” Warneka said. “These past two years have not been easy but they are an amazing resilient family that will flourish again and College Park is lucky to have them.”