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New Kid-Friendly Salon Beehives and Buzzcuts Opening Near Stuyvesant Town

By Patrick Hedlund | July 7, 2011 5:53pm | Updated on July 8, 2011 9:49pm
The new kids' salon Beehives & Buzzcuts will open in this First Avenue storefront across from Stuyvesant Town in the coming months.
The new kids' salon Beehives & Buzzcuts will open in this First Avenue storefront across from Stuyvesant Town in the coming months.
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DNAinfo/Patrick Hedlund

STUYVESANT TOWN — New hair salon owner Karolyn Massey knows how difficult it can be during a young child's first visit to the barber's chair.

"It's quite traumatizing for a kid to get a haircut," said the new mother, who witnessed the drama first-hand when taking her niece and nephew to get their first haircuts.

"They get sprayed with water and have a scissors coming at their head.  They have a hard time with it."

That experience gave Massey the inspiration to create a new salon solely for kids, Beehives & Buzzcuts, because she thought "it would be nice to have a place for children to go that's designed for them."

The 2,500-square-foot space, set to open in the coming months on First Avenue near East 21st Street, will feature haircut, manicure and pedicure stations — all infused with a childlike vibe that's difficult to find in Manhattan's myriad salons, said Massey, 38.

"I don't plan to have it be like that show 'Toddlers & Tiaras,'" added the Murray Hill resident, whose own daughter was born just two weeks ago. "It's a cute, fun little afternoon for a mother and her daughter."

In addition to elements like salon chairs shaped like taxicabs and fire trucks, as well as flat-screen televisions at each hair station, Beehives & Buzzcuts will include an event space and stage area to host children's parties and performances.

Massey plans to hire stylists with experience working with children, as well as someone that can help organize events like arts and crafts and storytimes.

The salon's target clientele is kids between 3 and 10-years-old — a burgeoning demographic in the increasingly family-friendly Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complexes, said lifelong Stuy Town resident Brian Tregerman, of Winick Realty Group, who brokered the deal.

"When you think about the neighborhood, there's really not much catering to children," he said, noting that the tenant inked a 10-year lease for the space, formerly home to a check-cashing store.

"There's definitely a need for these things, and that's why they're coming."

Massey, who left a career in corporate accounting to open the salon, said she spent time during her pregnancy talking to stay-at-home moms and nannies to get their feedback on the concept.

She found that outside of a few scattered kids' salons located uptown and in the West Village, parents had nowhere to bring their children for haircuts like the one she plans to offer.

And since Big Apple moms tend to be a bit more fashion forward, it's only right that their kids follow suit, Massey said.

"Little girls see that, they see them getting their nails done, and they want to be a part of that," she said. "I think it's going to be a great success."