WICHITA — More than 19 years after opening a salon near Central and Rock — and one year after partnering with Uruku — Julie Balay is leaving.
“I’m going to give up my space,” she says of her salon, which is just north of the Shadow.
Balay is going to join Capelli Salon at Carriage Parkway.
In early 2009, Balay and Uruku owner Tracy Sprague partnered to form Uruku at Julie Balay Salon & Day Spa.
“With the economy and everything, it just made sense for us to join forces,” Balay says. “We were both just feeling a lot of stress, and it made a lot of sense for Tracy to move over here.”
It didn’t work out.
“We’re just very different in the way we operate a business,” Balay says.
“We had different visions for the direction of the salon,” Sprague says.
She’s changing the name to Uruku Hair Lounge.
Balay opens in her new space Tuesday.
“I’m going to be taking care of all my clients over there and looking forward to not having to operate a small business anymore.”