Becky Jones, left, and Abbie Lints offer hair styling services in Winthrop, along with associate Hillary Roseland, not pictured.
By Laurelle Walsh
Coming full circle after a 13-year hiatus, Winthrop Beauty and Styling Parlor has settled back into its old digs on the downtown boardwalk near the Chewuch River bridge.
“I’d love to see all my old customers again,” said owner/stylist Becky Jones, who re-opened for business over ’49er Days weekend. “It’s good to be back.”
Jones and associates Abbie Lints and Hillary Roseland each operate their own hair styling business out of the salon, located at 94 Bridge St., next to Java Man. Although each stylist handles appointments separately, walk-ins are welcome during salon hours, Jones said.
Winthrop Beauty and Styling Parlor hours are 9 a.m. – 6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday. For an appointment, Jones may be reached at 997-0663, Lints at (509) 449-3764 and Roseland at (509) 449-0847.
Jones and Lints worked together during the salon’s prior incarnation, and “had a lot of fun,” said Jones. “It’s great to hang out here in Winthrop. This is a fun town.”
When the original salon closed in 2002, Jones moved her business into a building on her property in Heckendorn, where she cut hair for about five years, she said. After the death of her husband, Lucky, Jones sold the property in Winthrop, moved south to San Diego, and put the salon furnishings and equipment into storage. “I had no intention of coming back,” she said.
But time passed, and visits to friends and family began to draw her back to the Methow Valley. “Every time I came back to visit, I found I didn’t want to go back to San Diego,” Jones said.
She moved back to the valley last Christmas Eve, and began thinking about what would come next. In March, when she saw that her former business location — most recently occupied by Shotgun Nellies — was available for rent, she took the plunge.
Jones called her old associate Lints, who had retired her scissors to focus on writing and beekeeping, and “she talked me into it,” Lints said. They also invited Roseland, who specializes in elaborate hair styles for weddings and other special occasions, according to Jones.
The stylists offer haircuts for women, men and children, hair color, perms, waxing and up-dos. Senior discounts are available.
In keeping with Winthrop’s Western style, the space is furnished with antiques of the Queen Anne-revival period “to look like an old pioneer beauty shop,” Jones said. Winthrop sign specialist Bradley Pinkerton is designing period-appropriate signage, and possibly an old-style mural for the side of the building that greets drivers entering Winthrop from the west.
