Bellevue Gene Juarez rings in 2018 with new goals to accompany new location

Nestled among Neiman Marcus, Gucci and David Lawrence The Bravern, sits the newly located, newly remodeled space of Bellevue’s Gene Juarez.

After 20 years at the Bellevue Galleria, it was time for a change.

“We like to think we represent excellence in what we deliver as services and that’s what we strive for every day,” Gene Juarez President Scott Missad said. “So, to be surrounded by brands that I think also believe the same thing is a good thing.”

Gene Juarez opened its new Bellevue location Nov. 8. It employs 130 and provides approximately 10,000 services a month.

Although the salon and spa will offer many of the same services, the new location will feature a new men’s salon for grooming, which includes shaving, haircuts and color and waxing.

It has its own entrance and vibe, Missad, a Bellevue resident, added.

There is also a special space for shampooing. Missad described that as a “salon shampoo oasis” with a zen feel.

“It’s actually a service within the service where people can come in before their hair service and just kind of totally chill out,” he said. “It’s got its own music, reclining seats, custom fitting bowls, so it’s not uncomfortable. It’s a place to come in and get a shampoo massage, relax before your service and let the hustle and bustle go by.”

With the change in location, look and feel – the salon and spa now has a New York lofty feel with a Pacific Northwest twist – came new goals for the flagship spa. Just in time for New Year’s resolutions.

“Our first goal is to refine the space to deliver the highest quality of service that exists in a salon or spa and as well as the experience,” Missad said. “… Then, to continue to expand our brand relative to all age groups, all income types that really do care about looking and feeling their best inside and out.”

Missad said most in the Pacific Northwest know Gene Juarez as this “ultra, luxury, high-priced kind of salon” that targeted a certain age group with a certain income. And while the salon and spa certainly wants to pay homage to their existing customers who they “appreciate and love very much,” they also want to be attractive to high school and college-aged customers.

“[Gene Juarez’s] ability to do hair that’s meaningful to maybe a young person at Amazon is going to look differently than for someone who’s a retired woman who’s going to the country club after her visit to the salon, so we need to be able to represent all of those things,” he said.

While providing services to a diverse group of clients has always been a mission of Gene Juarez’s, Missad said he doesn’t think they’ve always presented themselves that way.

For example, not many know of Gene Juarez’s “curly hair experts” who are trained and certified in curly hair techniques. Missad said women with curly hair tend to struggle finding a good hair dresser or colorist who understands how to work with curly hair, as it can be difficult to work with regardless of the type of curl pattern.

As a way to make salon and spa services more affordable, Gene Juarez has offered spa memberships for $90 a month for a minimum of six months. The membership includes a choice of a 60 minute facial, 60 minute massage or manicure/pedicure once a month. There’s also a 20 percent discount on retail purchases and a 10 percent discount off on other spa services. Since the beginning of 2017, Missad said there’s been a 60 percent increase in memberships at the Bellevue Gene Juarez. Memberships began in 2016.

Prior to Gene Juarez, Missad was an executive of L’Oréal’s Redken division and has been in the beauty industry for 30 years. And, having been all over the world, Missad said the Pacific Northwest is really unique to the rest of the country when it comes to its beauty profile.

In the five years he’s been here, Missad has noticed the dark and rainy weather has affected how people prioritize beauty and wellness in the Seattle area. But when people look and feel their best, it has profound effects, he’s observed.

“We like to pride ourselves that we can change the trajectory of a person’s day, in some cases life, just by the services we provide,” Missad said. “We want to continue to do that and I think it’s critical to state that our people are what make this company fabulous.”

For more information on the Bellevue Gene Juarez, visit www.genejuarez.com/locations/bellevue.