A concentrated hub for health-focused businesses
HairPeace Salon Owner Bruce Musser recently noticed something exciting about the three blocks of Oak Street stretching from Barrs to Copeland streets: an organically forming health, beauty and wellness corridor was taking shape.
“I looked at what’s happening on Oak Street [and] I’m like, ‘Oh, look, this is interesting.’ We’ve got multiple gyms. We’ve got a makeup studio, a hair studio, and a massage studio. This is kind of interesting to me, this collection of businesses,” said Musser.
He sees his business as promoting personal and emotional wellness in a way that complements other aspects of self-care, including physical exercise.
“Working out is a really great way to change the way you look, but it’s not immediate,” said Musser.
“Getting a haircut or color or extensions, that’s an immediate result. And my idea is, go ahead and start looking good and feeling good now, while you continue to make an investment in your overall health.”
Musser operated HairPeace in Five Points for 20 years before relocating the business to his current location near the intersection of Oak and Barrs because it offered more space. At that point, Snap Fitness was the only other wellness-oriented business nearby, down at the other end of the business corridor near Oak and Copeland streets.
That was nine years ago. Since then, the “wellness corridor” has really filled in. In 2018, Paulina Perez moved her boutique hair and makeup studio – Makeup by Paulina Perez – near Oak and Osceola after falling in love with the neighborhood. She has worked on the Super Bowl and NBA Finals, a presidential primary debate, cable news shows and major advertising campaigns, and said she loves making people feel their best.
“Being able to contribute to somebody’s wellness is such an important part of our job,” said Perez. “We really focus on making the person in our chair feel confident to maximize their day.”
In 2023, Rhonda Bell opened Uma Lumina Massage Therapy next door to Perez’s business. Her apothecary-style massage wellness business offers clinical body work, neuromuscular and Swedish massage, and traditional Ayurvedic therapies called Shirodhara.
“Human touch is lost in the world right now. With massage, we feel better, but the camaraderie of having someone listen to you, hear you out, or just be in proximity is very healing beyond measure,” said Bell, who also has 25 years of yoga experience and teaches yoga at the Church of the Good Shepherd.
The corridor welcomed its newest health-focused business, Kathy Brooks Aesthetics, which opened in late March, offering hydrafacial, hydrafacial keravive, massage therapy, and head spa scalp services. Brooks is a preferred partner with First Call Pediatrics for local expectant families.
Kathy Brooks Aesthetics followed the February opening of F45 Training. John and Tiffany Kovacs opened the new gym near Oak and Stockton Streets.
“[We] knew this was the ideal spot for a new location … It is our goal at F45 Training Riverside to bring a strong partnership to the community,” said John.
John and Tiffany have also commissioned a vibrant “Riverside Forever” mural to adorn the side of their building. According to Musser, the historic and aesthetic charm of the business corridor is one of its most appealing features.
“It’s a really successful cohesion of commercial and residential,” said Musser.
One of the two buildings HairPeace occupies was built in 1915 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Likewise, the brick structure that houses Snap Fitness dates back to 1923 and has a rich history, having served as the home of Deluxe Laundry and Dry Cleaners for decades. Also built in 1923 was the building housing Uma Lumina and Makeup by Paulina Perez, which was designed by the same architect as the HairPeace building and was once a grocery store owned by a family of Lebanese immigrants.
In recent years, new speed bumps and bike lanes have calmed traffic and made the corridor more walkable and pedestrian-friendly, adding to its wellness-oriented identity.
“A lot of my clients walk to the doctor, walk to massage, walk home, the grocery – it’s just tying in everything, all the goodness about the neighborhood,” said Bell.
Nate Roche, Snap Fitness’s general manager, expressed a similar sentiment.
“What’s really nice about Oak Street is that it is so close to two major throughways and a few blocks from Five Points, but still remains quiet and easy to navigate. It’s become a great place for small businesses with less traffic, easy parking and a walkable atmosphere without the hassles of the main strips,” said Roche.
A couple doors down from HairPeace, Dr. Bethany