Better visibility encourages Academy of Style to move

A move into more spacious surroundings has allowed International Academy of Style to accommodate more patrons and students and also gives teachers more room for instruction.

International Academy of Style owners Loni D. Casteel and Bonnie Schultz purchased a former Harley-Davidson retail facility at 2295 Market St. in Reno and moved the cosmetology school in February. International Academy of Style got its signage up in late June, and executives still are fine-tuning work stations and interior layout of the new facility.

“We are a work in progress,” Administrative Assistant Joyce Mikesell says. “We are constantly changing.”

The facility was appealing to the school’s owners, Mikesell says, because it afforded first-rate signage fronting U.S. 395 on Market Street. The building also has full glass windows, provides plenty of comforting natural lighting for students and clients and required minimal tenant improvements prior to move-in.

“That was attractive because TI work can cost a lot of money,” Mikesell says.

International Academy of Style left a similar-sized facility on Plumb Lane, but its new location afforded a much more cohesive layout for work stations.

“Our floor space is bigger,” Mikesell says. “At the old space our salon floor was smaller. It just gives us a better atmosphere to bring our clients into.

“It allows us to have better flows because of the bigger space on the salon floor. It’s big, it’s beautiful, and we are able to have more freedom to teach and move about. It’s good for us and good for the students.”

The biggest challenges involved in the transition, Mikesell says, were bringing the building’s plumbing systems up to code and installing the appropriate number of sinks for accreditation through the Nevada State Board of Cosmetology.

NNBW staff