Lower Queen Anne’s Nucleus hair salon, at 621 Queen Anne Ave N, is closing up shop at the end of the week, according to owner Will Francalangia. The last day the salon will be taking appointments will be tomorrow, Wednesday, June 8.
Francalangia, who opened the Queen Anne Nucleus two years ago, says he was growing tired of running his own business, and the neighborhood’s customer base never really took off at this location. For ten years Francalangia owned a second Nucleus in Capital Hill, which he sold last year, and he says that location had greater foot traffic and more community interest in the business.
“This particular part of the neighborhood is not really conducive to a cool hair salon,” he said.
“Nucleus was put up for sale on May 5th, and after entertaining a few interested buyers, a suitable offer was not made, and I’ve decided to close up shop,” he said. “Not exactly the way I would have liked to end things, but fortunately, things are working out.”
Francalangia will be taking appointments at Nucleus through Wednesday, moving out by Friday, and will be taking clients at another local hair salon – Mars Hair/Art/Life, located on Lake Union on the east side of Queen Anne at 2046 Westlake Ave N #202. Mars Hair is the new project of former Nucleus stylist Jake Gravbro, and it is becomming home for 3/4 of Nucleus’ staff. Along with Gravbro and Francalangia, Nucleus stylist Kala Armijo has also moved over to the new salon.
“Jake had been working toward opening his own salon for awhile, and when he left, I put Nucleus up for sale,” Francalangia said. “Jake, has all the desire in the world to be a salon owner, and promote the online portion of the salon as well, so I feel like we’re in good hands.”
No word yet on what, if anything, will be replacing Nucleus. But for the time being if you’d like to take a piece of the hair salon home with you, Francalangia is selling the one-of-a-kind vanities (pictured above) that he decorated with favorite hair styles and old family photos for $100 each. There are three left, so if you’re interested in snatching one up, swing by Nucleus this week.