A dispute between two of Yorkville’s ritziest hair salons has degenerated into a sniping war involving seized garbage, surprise searches and a $6.4-million lawsuit.
The fight centres on Glo Salon & Spa, a high-end beauty purveyor on Avenue Road that caters to some of the city’s wealthiest women. A cut and a colour at Glo starts around $200 and goes up quickly.
“(Hairstyling) is a dirty little business,” laughed Luis Pacheco, co-owner of nearby Hair on the Avenue, who is watching this scrap from the sidelines.
Three years ago, hairstylist Perry Neglia and a partner sold Glo to Mary Louise Abrahamse, who was new to the salon business.
As part of the $450,000 sale, Neglia agreed to continue working at Glo for a year and not to open a competing business for three years.
It’s not clear who did what to whom over the next three years, but it’s plain that relations between Abrahamse and some of her new staff became strained.
On April 1, the day after his non-compete clause expired, Neglia opened a rival salon 100 metres up the street, calling it Gliss. Over the next several weeks, a steady stream of Glo hairstylists and colour technicians followed Neglia the short walk up Avenue Road.
More importantly, “a high percentage” of their clients came with them, according to Neglia. He and his new staffers contacted longtime customers to let them know about the switch.
“She thinks she bought the clients,” Jarmil Kulik, Neglia’s new partner and a former Glo stylist, said of Abrahamse.
“And nobody does that,” said Neglia.
As a result, Glo was left with a denuded staff without well-developed client rosters, according to Abrahamse’s lawsuit. One of her lawyers, Bob Klotz, said in an interview that his client’s business has been “destroyed.” Abrahamse declined comment.
