BY WIL CREWS
SPORTSCREWS
@OPELIKAOBSERVER.COM
OPELIKA —
Envy Salon in downtown Opelika was recently announced as the top-rated beauty salon in Alabama by topratedlocal.com.
Additionally, the salon — which has been in Opelika for 15 years — was announced by topratedlocal.com as the fourth best-rated business in the entire state.
“This honor, as I see it, is definitely about the clients more than anything,” said owner Holly Surrency. “Even more than the stylists, that’s more about the clients — the clients going on, feeling led to do a review.”
Top Rated Local has set out to recognize the local businesses that make Alabama such a great state, and calculated its rankings by aggregating the total number of verified sites the business is listed on, the total number of business reviews the business has on those review sites and the business’s average overall star rating.
Each business is then given a Rating Score, with the highest being a 100. Envy Salon has received 1,868 reviews across six different verified sites as of Jan. 12, with an average rating of 4.97 stars. Overall, Envy Salon earned a rating score of 99.71 and the honor of winning a Top Rated Local award for beauty salons in the state of Alabama for the fourth time.
“It’s important to us — customer service — 100%,” Surrency said. “It’s important that you enjoy the experience.”
While many people are indifferent about where they get a haircut, Surrency said she believes Envy Salon provides more to its customers than a typical walk-in salon.
“It’s not just about a haircut, you can get that anywhere,” she said. “You want them to feel important and special. I hope that even from the front desk, shampoo assistants — and not just the stylists that is with you — that the whole experience is good.”
Envy Salon operates on a commission-based business model instead of the commnonly seen booth-rental model. Surrency claims that the culture the commission-based workplace has set is one way her salon separates itself from other salons.
“Salon experience and the culture of the salon are really important,” she said. “A commission salon is more of a family and a business where we all work together. We all have a common goal. We all think the same way, act the same way. We all get along really well, and it’s just a good environment. I think that clients can see that.”
Natalie Killmaster, employee at Envy Salon, summed up what it’s like to work with Surrency at Envy and what the honor received by Top Rated Local means to the business.
“Awesome. If I had to sum up [working here], that would be the best way,” Killmaster said. “Holly is … and if you ask any of the girls … a mentor. Everybody is just a team and wants to help each other about every aspect. We are invested in so many areas, it’s so much fun. It’s awesome that people took a few minutes out of their time to give us a good review.”