The mother-daughter duo behind Eye Candy Boutique and Eye Candy Salon & Spa both have changes in the works for their respective businesses.
Alinda Hale has owned Eye Candy Boutique since 2015, and for the past five years she’s operated a retail location at 3001 W. White Oaks Dr. Her daughter, Tye Hale, opened Eye Candy Salon & Spa in a suite adjacent to her mother’s store.
Now, Alinda Hale said she and her daughter are both shifting their business models. “Tye closed the salon and spa a few weeks ago. She’s in her own space now by herself, and the other nine or 10 stylists moved on to other places,” said Hale, noting that her daughter is a single mother and wanted to spend more time with her son.
Hale said the two businesses went “hand-in-hand,” and she began to seriously consider whether she wanted to renew her five-year lease. “We’re going to be closing our brick-and-mortar location and going solely online with our website and app,” Hale said.
Hale said that online sales, which have more than doubled since the pandemic, already make up a significant percentage of the business. “When we look at the numbers, we’re better off to go online-only. It's just something that has continued to be our main focus," she said.
She plans to offer free shipping until at least the beginning of the year for customers who are used to being able to pick up their orders at the retail store and continue to focus on the local customer base. “We go live on social media two times a day now; we’ll increase that to three to five times a day and still do quarterly events to engage with the local people,” said Hale.
Hale said Sunday, July 23, will be the last day of retail operations. “It’s a hard decision for me, because the store is profitable, but I need to take something off my plate.”