There comes a time for change, and Valerie McNally of 6th Avenue Stylists says, that after 39 years in business, now is that time.
It has been a time she does not regret.
“It was a good experience. We helped the community of Humboldt. It felt like we were part of the community.”
Watching and looking back on how the community has grown over that time has been a big highlight for MacNally, especially when it comes to the downtown area, in both the good times and the bad times, she says.
“We’ve had times when downtown has been pretty dismal and then we’ve had times where it’s crawled back and tried to be a boom again. I think it’s going to happen again.”
And now with the closure of her business, 6th Avenue Stylists, after 39 years of operation, this just means new adventures ahead, both for her in her retirement and the Humboldt downtown.
“We’ve got some new businesses relocating so that’s a really positive outlook for downtown.”
Especially in the retail world, times have changed in the way people buy goods.
Before, Humboldt was the place to come for people in the surrounding area for the majority of goods. Humboldt had a bigger draw from the outlying areas, she says.
Now, with online purchasing as an option, competition for the consumer dollar has created that challenge.
“People are quick to buy things online.”
While online shopping has changed that face of retail over time, one positive change that McNally has seen over the years is a population boom that Humboldt was not seeing until about 7 years ago.
“The dynamics of our community has changed so with that, even hair dressing has changed. It’s all been positive.”
McNally started 6th Avenue Stylists back when she actually was on 6th Ave. in the same building that currently houses the Quick Cobbler and Behiel, Will, and Biemans.
After earning her training as a hairstylist, McNally and her sister-in-law started their own salon business. After a year and a half, she was by herself after her sister-in-law moved to Yorkton.
“I hired some good people. It was always a two operator salon. And then I’ve had staff who has been with me for 30 years.”
After 20 years and expanding into tanning, clothing and accessories, McNally needed more space to house an expanding business, moving into her most recent location.
McNally has had two different kinds of experiences as a business owner in Humboldt; positive ones and interesting ones, she laughs.
“With expansion comes more staff, more inventory, just becomes a whole lot more work,” says McNally but it also included more fun. All in all, she enjoyed her years as a Humboldt business owner.
After all this time of hard work with her own store and salon, McNally says that she has nothing planned for the future besides those that involve a new grandson and a new fishing boat.
“My husband has retired too in the last week and so we plan to hopefully get things together here and go from there.”
After 39 years in business, McNally wrapped up her time as owner of 6th Avenue Stylists with one last garage sale last week.
She has thoroughly enjoyed her time as a Humboldt business owner.
