photo by: Shelley Hanson

Luxe Beauty Lounge co-owners Kristen Ruckh and Alyssa Smigel pose in front of their new salon, located at 3527 Jacob St., Wheeling, on Saturday.

The new Luxe Beauty Lounge celebrated its grand opening Saturday with a ribbon cutting ceremony hosted by the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce.

The new salon, co-owned by Kristen Ruckh and Alyssa Smigel, is located in a renovated building located at 3527 Jacob St., Wheeling.

“We have been working together for the last seven years, so we decided to just go in and do it,” Smigel said. “I grew up in South Wheeling so I thought what a great opportunity to come back to South Wheeling.”

Ruckh is originally from Moundsville but now lives in Wheeling as well.

The salon opened about a month ago. Services include hair coloring, haircuts, formal hairstyles, lash services such as extensions and lift and tints, hair jewels and some body waxing.

“I think we stand out because we have a wide variety of clientele already,” Smigel said. “We want everyone to feel comfortable here. We don’t cater to one group of people or age group. We offer a lot of services that will benefit the valley.”

On hand for the event was Wheeling Councilwoman Rosemary Ketchum, who said she was excited to have another new business open in South Wheeling.

“Obviously Luxe is an incredible local business focused on beauty and wellness. And the folks running this business are incredible community advocates investing in not just our city but our neighborhood,” she said. “We really appreciate that.”

Luxe is situated across from another newer business in the neighborhood, The Foundry martini bar. Another entrepreneur is also preparing to open a new tattoo parlor just yards away on the same block, Ketchum noted.

“South Wheeling has such fascinating history. This is a blue collar neighborhood. This is a neighborhood that has for 100 years invested in manufacturing and industry, and during the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s we saw a slump in that,” Ketchum said. “But we’re seeing a lot of business turn the corner and investment finally happening in our community.

“That’s not something that happens on accident, right?” she continued. “That’s because good things are happening on the city level and good things are happening at the neighborhood level. We’re excited for folks like Luxe to capitalize on that momentum and invest in the neighborhood.”

Brooke Anderson, membership and marketing coordinator for the Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber is happy to celebrate another new business opening in the city.

“It’s so amazing. It’s my favorite part of my job, honestly, getting to celebrate people and their victories and milestones,” she said. “We’re so excited to celebrate Luxe Beauty Lounge today. We actually heard about them from one of our current members who gets their hair done by these ladies and is so happy with them, and told them they needed to be in the chamber. So we’re super excited to be here to help them in whatever ways we can.”