Buffalo Rising Online

Dec 5th 2007, 5:55pm By queenseyes

Karl Radetich is doing things his own way. Here's a guy who grew up in Buffalo, moved to Manhattan, moved back to Buffalo, and still works in both places. "When I came back for a visit a couple years back," he began. "I decided to buy a house in the Kleinhans neighborhood. I couldn't afford not to, as the building in New York where I lived was being sold and they were paying me to get out. I purchased the house in Buffalo for $65,000 and replaced everything. My friends back in Manhattan were shocked at my decision and tried to have an intervention. Now they want updates whenever I come back (three times a month). They're always asking to see photos of my house and my garden."

Karl has figured out a sweet way to get what he always wanted. He now lives in the house of his dreams for the same price that he said he could have bought a hallway in New York. He also gets to keep his best clients happy... the same clients that he has had for the last 20+ years (Mélange @ The Peninsula Hotel 700 Fifth Street). When he came back to Buffalo he was torn as to whether he should open a salon, a design studio or an antique shop. He was considering a mixture of the three when he happened upon the vacated Flowers, Etc. storefront (that business moved to Massachusetts Avenue). "Now I have a modern salon and beautiful house," he said. "I'm even talking to friends in New York about the opportunities here. Some people that I talk to have already heard that property in Buffalo is becoming attractive. Other people have this idea of what Buffalo is and it's not pretty. I've seen it all in New York... I was a part of the high-fashion scene. Even though I still have that there, I'm still starting fresh here... and already the neighborhood is starting to come in and hang-out."

As we spoke, Karl kept reminding me that when he left Buffalo there were a lot of other hair stylists leaving at the same time. "Actually, I never wanted to leave," he told me. "I was doing hair for June 2 Modeling and one of the models was spotted by Elite in New York. He contacted me and asked what I was doing in Buffalo. The next week I packed my bags and took off. I learned a lot in New York and met a lot of people, but it's impossible to save any money." I asked Karl what else he wanted to do here now that he's back (for the most part), and he answered, "I want to buy another house."

KARL Salon is located at 425 Elmwood Avenue (716) 783-0629