Great Clips, T-Mobile, Aspen Dental open at new EC complex
The Daily Advance
Elizabeth City, NC
A second Great Clips location in Elizabeth City has opened in a new commercial development on Conlon Way off Halstead Boulevard Extended.
Charles Bobey, who lives in Chesapeake, Virginia, owns both the new hair salon in Elizabeth City and a location is Hampton, Virginia.
The new 64,000-square-foot commercial complex is owned and developed by Miami-based FRONTIER Companies. Other shops in the new commercial development include Aspen Dental and T-Mobile.
A FRONTIER subsidiary, Elizabeth Tanglewood LLC owns the center and it’s managed by Geneva Management, a property management company also based in Miami.
Bobey’s wife, Loan Nguyen-Bobey, works at both Great Clips locations and also does a lot of training and teaching with the other stylists. She has been cutting hair since 1995, Bobey said.
Bobey said Elizabeth City seemed like a great place to open a second salon.
“The area is growing and it’s also in close proximity to our home,” he said.
Bobey, who serves in the Army, said he has traveled through Elizabeth City a number of times, including when he was en route to Fort Bragg.
Great Clips does a Veterans Day promotion in which salons provide free haircuts to veterans. Bobey said the shop participated last week and had good participation by veterans in the area.
“It was great fun giving back to our veterans that day,” Bobey said.
The salon has nine stations plus a “select styling station” that is used for washing hair and other purposes. Once the COVID-19 pandemic is over the shop could have up to nine stylists, he said, though he added he expects to operate with about five or six.
Currently one station is being kept vacant between every two stations in order to maintain a safe distance in accordance with state COVID-19 restrictions, Bobey explained.
The number of chairs in the lobby has also been reduced and if there are more than 12 people in the salon customers are asked to wait in their car, he said.
Masks are required for both customers and staff, and all stations are cleaned thoroughly after each customer, Bobey said.
Bobey said he wants customers to be comfortable that they are in a safe environment and also to not have to wait longer than necessary. The salon offers online check-in, which lets customers get their name on the waiting list and keep up with their place in line remotely, he said.
Roni Singleton, a spokeswoman for T-Mobile, confirmed that the store at the FRONTIER complex is the company’s first location in Elizabeth City. The store currently has six employees.
“T-Mobile’s new location at 3875 Conlon Way will allow customers to choose the service plan and devices that best serve their wireless needs — from T-Mobile’s unlimited Essentials and Magenta plans to a line-up of all of today’s best smartphones, tablets, audio devices and accessories,” Singleton said in an email.
The complex does not have a formal name. Some businesses within the development are referring to it informally as Shops at Tanglewood Corner.
