Middletown Commons' salon QR Studio is cut above the competition
Mar. 26—WHITE HALL — Rhonda Dukich and Quentin Davis have a history together that is so intertwined, it only made sense to start a business together.
They worked together providing hair and styling services at the big box retailer JC Penney until they didn't.
"We were looking for something to go from where we were," Dukich said. "We were both at JC Penney's for a very long time, but they declined. So it was an opportunity to get when we could."
The opportunity in question is QR Studio, a hair, nail and skin salon in Middletown Commons. Although the business has been open for a year, the Marion County Chamber of Commerce made it official with a ribbon cutting in front of the store on Monday. Dukich and Davis are co-owners.
"We were friends at work," Davis said. "We were in a very small, confined space and every day I said, 'we got to get the heck out of here,' for several years. One day she came in and said, 'we're getting out of here,' and here we are."
It's a far cry from their old stomping grounds at JC Penney, which didn't offer the same breadth of services that QR Studio does. Dukich said JC Penney did not update or address issues she and Davis saw while working there.
By contrast, QR Studio employs an aesthetician, or skincare professional, who can provide facials and waxing services among others. Brazilian blowouts, color services and balayage, or the technique of free hand painted highlights into hair, are also offered.
"We are a full service salon," Dukich said. "We have just about everything here."
There is no bigger testament to skill in this field than customer satisfaction, and there's no bigger expression of that than the capacity to bring over clients from a previous business. Dukich and Davis's regulars made the jump from JC Penney's to QR Studio after they opened.
The location is prime, too. Dukich said she gets business from people who are there to shop at the other stores. The salon is open 9-8 Monday through Saturday and 12-5 on Sunday. They are closed on Tuesdays.
Pat Snively, Chamber president, said the ribbon cutting was to show off the business and help Dukich and Davis build upon their success. It's part of the larger work the Chamber does to promote business across the county.
"This area continues to expand," Snively said. "White Hall has really become an anchor piece for commerce in Marion County. The economy continues to grow and White Hall is a huge part of that. Small businesses are critical to the success of the economy in Marion County and QR is a testament to that."
Dukich and Davis, for their part, appreciate of the Chamber's efforts to promote QR Studio. They said it's an opportunity that provides for more advertising for their business.
The mall went through its own period of decline, losing its former grandeur sometime in the '90s. The lack of a vibrant mall made it hard to grow the community, Dukich said.
However, re-branded and remodeled as the Commons, it is experiencing a rebirth. Several new businesses have opened there in the last year or so. The Chamber has been showcasing them one by one, emphasizing that the Commons is the place to go for every shopping need in the greater Fairmont area.
Dukich herself has been a part of the history of that retail space.
"I actually started doing hair here, back in 1990," she said. "So I kind of came full circle. It's great."
Reach Esteban at efernandez@timeswv.com
