(Not all team members are featured in the photo)
Who They Are
Located at 10 N. Main Street in the historic Dr. D. T. Porter building, overlooking Court Square Park, Rachel’s Salon & Day Spa is a full-service Aveda Concept Salon and spa offering services for men’s and women’s hair as well as massage, facial, body treatments, nails, makeup, and waxing. Founded by Rachel Hill in 1987, Rachel’s was purchased by Paige and Chris Garland in October of 2014.
Our mission is to create a 5-star experience to every guest, every time. Offering an environment that allows our guests to relax & enjoy their time with us while maintaining the highest standard of excellence.
In a world that has made a shift from personal interaction to technology, where service has been lost in the marketplace, our business is one that is working to redefine guest experience. Our business is built on the healing power of personal touch and sustained by relationships. Our primary goal is to create a space in the day of each guest that walks through our doors where they can see their personal beauty, enjoy a moment of respite in a too busy world, and to care for them wherever they are in their day. We work to show a different side of the beauty industry, to see a change from superficial to true beauty, which we believe is internal. While it may appear as a luxury industry, we are one of the few professions outside of the medical industry licensed to physically touch clients. The healing power of touch is one that is too often overlooked. We offer each guest the opportunity to be cared for in the way that they need in that moment through ancient Ayurvedic rituals and stress relieving practices, a complimentary part of each guest experience. Additional points of difference in our service include complimentary Aveda comforting tea ritual, finishing touch makeup application, and aroma sensory journey all with a high touch approach.
Why Downtown and What it Means to Them:
Rachel’s has been a hidden gem in The Core of Downtown Memphis for just over 30 years. Previous ownership built the business on relationships with her clients and current ownership continues that core principal of business. We are in an industry built on people, and sustained by the same. You have to get out of the doors and meet your neighbors if you are going to keep those doors open. Rachel’s has sustained through the peaks and valleys that Downtown Memphis has seen, our Downtown community is thriving once again & we are here to support that. Downtown is a walkable community, it’s a real neighborhood where people live, work, visit from all over the world, and enjoy real community. Investing in a local business is investing in our city, and it means doing something to continue to support the growth and opportunity for future generations. We want Memphis to be somewhere our kids want to come home to after college, the more we put back into the city the more we have to give to those future generations of Memphians.
Initiatives they’re working on to better Memphis:
Our primary goal is to bring our mission to life each day, to continue to be leaders in our industry, in our city, and our local community through service, contribution, & participation. Our commitments to small yet impactful practices such as recycling, making changes to energy efficient lighting options, and working to re-use and upcycle certain materials for marketing and visual displays have become the norm rather than the exception. As we plan for future renovations to our space, preserving the historic integrity of our property will be at the forefront; combining that with improvements we will make to create an eco-friendlier, energy efficient, green, community centered space we hope to create a true place of respite that will continue to be an asset to the Core of Downtown.
Currently our business participates in annual Earth Month efforts, raising funds for the Global Green Grants foundation and the Tennessee Clean Water Network. We are involved in fundraising efforts for Breast Cancer Awareness for both the Breast Cancer Research Foundation and a local organization, The Pink Wig Project. Our outreach to St. Jude Research Hospital has become a passion, allowing us to connect with hospital staff, patients & their families and offer either our thanks for the work they do, or a place or rest and comfort for the patients and caretakers during a time when they are in need.
We are committed to creating a positive energy both inside our business as well as out into our community and we have created a small way to send that out with our guests by ending each of our services with a “Pass it on” ritual. This has become one of our favorite ways of sending positive energy out into our community. We have created small cards, each with a different positive affirmation and a message below the affirmation reading “pass it on…” Our guest simply reaches into a bucket, selects one of the affirmations as we share the rules. The “rule” is that they hold on to the message until they cross paths with someone that needs to receive it and they “pass it on.” It’s a simple way of sharing a positive thought with someone, and hoping that they will in turn do the same.
How they define Pure Memphis:
We think maybe Tony Allen said it best, Pure Memphis is simply “All Heart. Grit. Grind.” We’re not sure there are better words to summarize Pure Memphis. Memphis is genuine & real. We care. We care about our city, about the good, the bad, and about each other. We have grit and determination to keep moving forward for a better future. We have the opportunity to cultivate a culture of caring, that gives us an edge. Winston Churchill said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a LIFE by what we give.” Our business definitely believes this is true.
What Old Dominick means to them:
As a local business, we love the opportunity to partner with another local business who believes in the whole of our city. Old Dominick was, in our eyes, a perfect pairing in our search to offer a little something extra to our guests and enhance their experience. The commitment the family at Old Dominick has for the growth of our city is to be admired and their willingness to partner with even the oddest of pairings shows they are innovative thinkers, something every city needs more of!
