Business Profile: Finding Paradise in Carson City

You could say Perry and Starr Nixdorf were jumping into the deep end of the pool when they decided to create Paradise Salon-Spa-Wellness, which celebrates its grand opening March 27-29.

It’s not just that they bought a building that is seven times larger than the previous salon space they rented on Winnie Lane. Or that they went from a staff of four to 19 independent contractors. Or that they expanded from doing hair and body piercing to just about every salon/spa service you could ask for.

No. It’s the pool.

“We looked at the pool and said, 'what are we going to do with a pool?'" Perry said, recounting the first time they were shown the building on Executive Pointe Way, just off East College Parkway between Goni Road and Lompa Lane in Carson City.

They weren’t sold on that first tour. But after a while, they began to see how it was perfect for what they wanted to do.

“Starr has a personal fitness and training background, and I have the hair background, so this combination really made sense for us,” Perry said. “That’s what put it all together.”

The 7,266-square-foot building had originally been constructed as a physical therapy facility, complete with an indoor therapy pool and hot tub. But the recession took its toll, and it was a bank-owned property when the Nixdorfs bought it last summer for a fraction of its initial cost.

It was a deal they couldn’t pass up.

But it also required quite a bit of work to make the building suitable to their purposes. They were fortunate that the building’s design was well suited to their needs. For instance, it has a crawl space instead of being situated on a concrete slab, which made it much easier to install all the additional plumbing they needed.

They were also fortunate to hire the services of contractor Tom Peters for their remodel, since he had built the structure in the first place.

“Tom is great guy to work with, and he did a great job,” Starr said.

They were able to open to the public last month, and the reception so far has been great, Starr said.

The Nixdorfs have been in the beauty business for 30 years, and the new facility gives them an almost blank canvas to create a place that fit the needs of their clients and staff.

For instance, each of the hair stylists have their own private room with a sink where they can store their products, mix hair color, etc.

Another feature is a manicure room that has its own separate ventilation system that vents fumes directly outside so as not to bother others in the building.

The facility is laid out so that each service can operate independently of the other. So a massage therapist could serve clients at different times without affecting the hair salon, and vice versa.

The pool facility allows Starr and two other trainers to conduct aquatic exercise classes like Aqua Zumba and Pilates.

Besides the therapy pool, clients can also enjoy the high-tech infrared sauna where they can listen to music while they relax and sweat.

They set it up where people could come and use the pool and sauna on their own time, but it turns out their customers wanted more.

“It’s been kind of an eye opener that people don’t want to come in by themselves, that they want a class and a leader to tell them what to do,” Starr said.

Paradise features six hair stylists, three traditional massage therapists and one Watsu massage therapist, three aquatic trainers, two body piercers, an esthetician, a permanent makeup artist and two support staff.

Along with the new facility, Paradise also features a “crazy good” website, according to Perry. It allows for each service provider to have their own page inside the site, that includes a bio, prices and portfolio of their work. It also allows customers to shop for and book all the different services they offer. Perry said they currently get 10-15 online appointment bookings per day.

Along the same lines, their new telephone auto-attendant sends calls directly to the person the caller wants, and also includes a lot of basic information, such as how much a body piercing costs.

The enormity of the new facility keeps them thinking outside the box, and even outside the building, where they also have a relaxing patio and grassy area for clients to enjoy.

“One of our massage therapists want to do massages in a teepee outside this summer,” Perry said. “Where else can you get that?”

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The grand opening celebration begins Thursday at 5 p.m. Go here to find out more about the grand opening activities.