Ellicott Street is certainly going through a small renaissance these days. The addition of SeaBar will act as a big draw to the neighborhood. But it is a certain family that has caught my interest in past weeks… a family that I believe will play an incredible role in the street’s ongoing stability. Fix Salon and Aesthetic’s Michael Roetzer is taking the lead in drawing almost his entire family to work on the now family business. Michael recently moved back from Manhattan where he worked at a salon in the Meatpacking District, and before that Bumble and bumble. “I see the Ellicott District as a place with a lot of potential… like the Meatpacking District,” he told me. “I decided to move back to Buffalo because I wanted to be here to play a part in the city’s revival. My family has been in the salon business for a long time… so when my sister Rebecca heard what I was doing she packed up her bags and moved back from Santa Fe to help. My brother Peter, who is an architect, designed the interior. My dad (also Peter) poured the industrial concrete floor, then waxed and scraped it to give it a modern acid-washed look. My other sister Annette, an esthetician in town, is coming to work here as well. And my mom Rosanne even came out of early retirement and will be a stylist with us.”
The departmentalized salon and spa is based on a sort of a cube-in-cube concept. The gauntlet gray walls are offset by raised open and enclosed bamboo workstations. All of the walls feature either turret looking windows, concealed cubbies or sliding mirrors. The workstation design resembles a very simple extended ‘S’ shape with squared edges. There are many hard industrial features, but those are totally offset by the warm color of the earth-friendly bamboo and the muslin curtains that run the length of the hallway. The simple Asian look will go extremely well with the sushi bar across the glass corridor. Actually, if I didn’t know better I would think that Fix could double as a sushi bar. How ‘bout some sushi with that manicure? “I wouldn’t have done this anywhere else,” Michael told me. “When I said I was moving back to Buffalo everyone asked me why I wanted to open up downtown. I love this area. The people that live in this building keep stopping in and asking for business cards to give to their friends. They are helping to promote the business already because they are so happy to see us here.”
Fix will be opening next week. They are still looking for someone to do manicures and pedicures… so if you know of anyone, please have them drop off his or her info to 475 Ellicott Street (near the Washington Market). 716-858-4332