Tonya’s Hair Fashion was established on February 1, 2000, when she purchased Shafer’s Beauty Salon located at 125 Wayne Ave. from Carol DeWolf. Shafer’s opened in the early 1900s and was the oldest beauty salon in Bucyrus.
When Tonya purchased the salon, she also acquired Carol’s clientele as Carol sold the business to retire. Tonya was blessed to keep the majority of Carol’s clients. One client still comes regularly; she is over 80 years young, and her mom just passed away in November, a month shy of her 106th birthday. Dorothy and Claudia Russell are amazing ladies who will always hold a special place in Tonya’s heart.
The quaint little salon held two styling chairs. Tonya occupied one styling station, and Anne Huggins Pauley occupied the other. Anne and Tonya worked together for approximately five years at The Styling Den from June 1992 to 1997, where Tonya started her career. Tonya was very blessed to say that her very first client stayed faithful to her until he passed away in December 2023. Sid Szydlyk’s entire family became an extension of Tonya’s family. He was there cheering her on for every milestone and was also the first haircut at her current location. After all, there is something about the nostalgia of having such a faithful and steadfast following.
In 2016, Tonya hired Britney Hill, who was the perfect fit as a nail tech. For the most part, Tonya’s clients loved having a nail tech within the salon. However, one of Tonya’s Friday regulars, Mary Snyder, had sensitivities to the smell of the nail products. Tonya has always prided herself on quality service, which meant she might need to figure out better ventilation to continue making her clients comfortable and happy. One day, Tonya mentioned to a client, who happened to be a realtor (Sharon Katona), that it would be nice to have a separate room for her nail tech with good ventilation. Not long after, Sharon called Tonya to look at a building on Warren St. Tonya and her husband, Andy, went to look. The building was much bigger than their current location and had lots of potential to be the perfect vision for the direction the good Lord and her clients wanted her to go. Tonya, along with her husband, Anne Huggins, Britney Hill, Karen Hudson, Christene Johnson, Jeanine Snyder, Todd Guinther, Jason Long, Travis Koschnick, Brian Caldwell, her kids Jess and Jake, other friends, and J&F Construction, designed the space by adding walls, tearing out walls, and totally transforming the space into a functional area with good traffic flow. The setting seemed welcoming and would provide a nice salon experience for the clients. The grand opening of the salon’s relocation was June 1, 2017. Tonya has been thriving at her current location for almost seven years now. She has also added to her co-worker list. The current salon has four styling stations, three nail stations, two pedicure chairs, and a wax room. Today, Tonya has all those chairs filled with four hairstylists: Daniell Starr, Ronni Locker, Emma Crawford, and herself. She also has all three nail stations filled with Britney Hill, Lydia Feik-Sherman, and Jordan Groves Johnson.
Tonya struggled to leave her quaint little salon but knew that the community needed a full-service salon. Not only does she have her salon with hair and nail stations along with a wax room, but she also has five other entities within her building, two of which are an esthetician and a massage therapist. Jeanine Snyder, the massage therapist, has been in the Warren St. building since the day the doors opened.
There is something to be said about a thriving business like Tonya’s. She attributes it all to a supportive community that has always believed in her and her talent. She knows she probably isn’t the best in her town, but she is honest, sincere, and trustworthy. She often jokes that she can mess up her clients’ hair, and they will come back for the chats and therapy sessions. Tonya has always prided herself on not judging and showing compassion. By nature, Tonya is an empath who truly loves being a people person. She feels very blessed to have each relationship she has with her clients, friends, and family members.
The Lohrs have taken many leaps of faith each time they start a business adventure. They also own Center St. Meat Company. Neither of these businesses were dreams of theirs, but it just seemed to be the direction they were guided to take.
In honor of Tonya’s Hair Fashions celebrating their 25th anniversary of being in business, the salon has tasty refreshments, nice appreciation gifts, and themed days planned for February 3-7. Tonya and the entire staff would love to have you stop in and help them celebrate.