The Rocky Mountain Collegian

Media Credit: Neha Choudhary The stylists of Salon Ktizo have packed up and moved on. Their space on the first floor of the BSC, across from the ballrooms, was the home of Salon Ktizo for almost two years. John O'Brien, BSC building manager, cited a lack of business as Ktizo's re [Click to enlarge]

Salon Ktizo is officially closed. The space on the lower level of the Busch Student Center where the shop operated since the fall of 2003 has been empty since the second week of October. The culprit, said John O'Brien, BSC building manager, and Phil Lyons, associate vice president of student life, was a lack of business.

Small businesses usually need enough start-up capital to finance the first year or two of operation, said Lyons.

"You're not going to make money for two years," he said.

According to Lyons, Salon Ktizo's first year of operation could have gone better for Jean Campbell, proprietor of the salon.

"The first year was rough, and the second was better, but you really need to like what you're doing to run a small business," Lyons said. "For the work she put in and the hours she worked, maybe she didn't think it was worth it."

Lyons said that at the end of the 2004-2005 school year Campbell told him that if business didn't pick up this year, she would leave. It didn't, and she did.

Lyons and O'Brien both said that the appeal of the salon wasn't where it was intended to be.

"About 75 percent of the business was guys' haircuts," said Lyons.

"The bigger spenders on personal care are usually girls," said O'Brien.

Plans for the future use of the space have yet to be announced, and Lyons and O'Brien declined to comment on possibilities for the replacement of Salon Ktizo.

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