Personal Style Hair Salon Helps Neighboring Salon Studio 43 in Time of Need

After Hurricane Irene hit the area last weekend, Kathy Mishebow walked into Studio 43, the salon she owns on Maple Avenue in New City, only to find that the power was out.  Unable to serve her long-time customers, she called up Andy Vippolis, who owns Personal Styles hair salon just one block away.    

“Tuesday, I got a phone call from Studio 43 requesting if we can accommodate them as a beauty salon because they lost power,” Vippolis said.  “It was more than my pleasure to do so.”    

Since Tuesday, Vippolis and Mishebow have been working together out of Personal Styles hair salon, united by their shared interest in beauty and hair design.  Mishebow’s customers have been finding their way to Personal Styles throughout the week.    

Dr. Anna Zemel, who has gone to Studio 43 for 15 years, said Thursday that she did not know what to do when she saw Studio 43 was closed; she wanted to get her hair done before she went to a wedding.  She said she was relieved when she saw a sign in the front of Studio 43 explaining Mishebow had found a home.                  

Vippolis said he and Mishebow were friends before the hurricane and that he wanted to help her out as both a friend and a fellow hair salon owner. 

“As a profession, we try to accommodate each other,” he said.  “We also have a good relationship with Streaks [hair salon].  If they need us, we have no problem accommodating them, or vice versa."

Mishebow said she was happy to be working with Vippolis.      

“I had met Andy before; he’s a neighbor of mine,” she said.  “So I called him up and he let us come down and we’ve been very happy here.  It’s nice camaraderie.  It’s like, you think of each other as competitors, and yet if somebody needs something, it’s really nice.  There are a lot of salons around here and everybody’s very nice.”

Thursday was Mishebow’s last day working out of Personal Styles.  Earlier in the day, she learned that Studio 43 got its power back.     

“We just got it back, and we were like ‘aw, we were having fun here,’” Mishebow said.  “Honestly we had a great time.”