After 23 years of taming tresses on the corner of Blanchard and First in Belltown, Gary Manuel Salon opens in August in its new location in Pioneer Square. Taking over the 4,378-square-foot, three-story space that formerly housed the Ibiza Dinner Club, the salon is the latest lifestyle outpost to open in the historic neighborhood, joining boutique shops such as E. Smith Mercantile and Velouria, upscale eateries from Matt Dillon and a newly revamped Smith Tower.

“There’s a really great spirit in Pioneer Square right now,” says owner Manuel Benevich. “We’ve always been an urban company and having a location that reflects our community has always been important to us.”  

 

This point of view is evident in the open design of the salon. Reclaimed hardwood floors flow throughout, surrounded by floor-to-ceiling windows that connect the salon to Pioneer Square. “It’s really a shared space,” says J’Keren Sears, Gary Manuel’s assistant director.

“From the charging ports at each styling station for guests to plug into to the lofted mezzanine that overlooks the main open floor…the design is meant to discourage barriers between each other and the neighborhood.”

The historic building will also serve as a legacy to the salon’s late cofounder Gary Howse, who passed away in August 2014.

“Gary loved the history and the architecture of Pioneer Square,” says Sears. Adds Benevich, “Pioneer Square is where Seattle started. We’re moving down to where the city started, and he would have loved that.”