The owners of Kismet Salon, a new hair stylist collective on Market Street in downtown Wheeling, say they want to use the space for good.

The salon is having a grand opening Saturday afternoon.

Best friends and co-owners Audrey Yakopin and Jamie Sleutz have been doing hair together for around a decade. Now, they are opening their new salon.

While they have modernized and re-decorated the space, their focus is on community building, Yakopin said.

“We would like to donate our time to the community when it comes to cutting hair for free and doing more events like that to involve the local downtown and the promotion of the [re] building of the city and just be a part of all the new and exciting young people that are coming together and making an impact in the downtown area,” she said.

The co-owners will also be working with the Friendlier City Project to make the salon an inclusive place for the LGBT+ community.

“We’d like to host (events) here as well to just be a part of that community and be a safe space and very inclusive and inviting space for events like that,” Yakopin said.

As a part of the ribbon cutting, the salon is also hosting a toy drive for Elm Grove Elementary students. They will likely host similar drives in the future, Yakopin said.

Kismet took over the space where hair salon Meraki was located. Now, the owners will rent out booths to local stylists. They currently have two available openings for hair.

There is also a room that can be used for waxing or nail styling services depending on demand from technicians, Yakopin said.

The owners want to help incoming stylists navigate the process of getting the necessary certifications because they have had to figure things out on their own, Yakopin said.

“We are hoping to provide a good environment for a stylist to come here and work independently but we also want to provide support for any man or woman who wants to work here because we have been doing hair for so long,” she said. “We’ve kind of paved our own way but we want to make it easier for someone else.”

Ahead of the ribbon cutting, Yakopin said she is very excited. She never thought she wanted to own a salon but seeing the good that she would be able to do for the community was a huge draw.

‘It’s not just about me. It’s about me and Jamie doing people’s hair for a funeral or for a baby shower or their wedding,” Yakopin said. “We’re a big part of people’s everyday lives and it’s really nice to be able to have our own space that we can use to donate to the community so I’m excited for that.”