Some day, Niagara Street, between the Peace Bridge and Ontario Street, will be the successful commercial corridor that it always deserved to be. We’re starting to see that turnaround thanks to the Niagara Street Now infrastructure project, as well as individual businesses reclaiming restored storefronts.
One of these new businesses is Local Honey’s Beauty Hive, owned and operated by Jennifer Bohlen, who has made a commitment to the street, her clients, and to Buffalo. She has done this by building out a stylish 1500 square foot salon directly across from the home of Bootleg Bucha, in a rejuvenated industrial beauty studio that suits Jennifer and her clients to a T.
During a recent Zoom discussion, Jen told me a couple of fun and funny stories about the salon. First, she said that she has struck up a relationship with Company B across the street, the staff drops off snacks and a custom Beauty Hive-inspired kombucha for her clients. Jen also told me that she has had a lot of people stopping in to buy honey – so she started carrying bottles of honey sourced from her friend who is a beekeeper. Talk about being all things to all people. But that’s what Jen does – she aims to please, and wants everyone to have the best experience possible when they visit one of her four full-time stylists.
Whether it’s a visit to sip a drink, work on a laptop at the 8-foot beauty bar in-between beauty services, to get a haircut and/or style, or even to pick up one of the honey-based products, there’s seemingly no end to the number of offerings available to customers.
That’s because Local Honey is the realization of Jen’s dream salon, with all the fixins’. She wanted to create a spa-like beauty destination on the city’s West Side, which is exactly what she has accomplished.
Girls and guys, the next time you’re looking for stylist services such as balayage, coloring, foil, curls, braids, makeup, waxing, an updo, or a straight up cut, why not treat yourself to a salon that has gone “all out” to showcase itself (and you) in the best possible light.
Beauty Hive | 1255 Niagara St., Suite B | Buffalo, NY 14213 | 716-886-0040 | Localhoneybeautyhive@gmail.com | Services
Photographer: Bethany Gruendike