New Botesdale salon breathes fresh lease of life into former hardware store

It has been two weeks since the opening of a new salon in Botesdale — but according to its owner, there is very little to suggest the building spent years as a hardware store.

Dawn Bendel says she has been “really pleased” by the support she has received from the village since officially launching Simply Beauty of Botesdale at the end of last month, at the former site of the Hill Top Hardware and Pet Foods shop in The Street.

Previously an employee at Eden Natural Beauty in Sawmills Road, Diss, Mrs Bendel spent several weeks, along with her husband, dad, brother and lots of friends, transforming and making improvements to the shop’s interior, explaining the location stood out to her as a good place to set up her own business.

“I walk that way to school with my little girl,” she told the Diss Express.

“It’s an old building and the shop has lots of character. I just thought it would be nice to do it for myself.

“We had to start from scratch. There was paint all over the floor and the layout wasn’t really right for a beauty salon. It took about a month to turn it around.

“You would never know that it was once a hardware shop. They have worked tirelessly to transform the shop.”

The shop held an open day on Saturday, July 30, in order to introduce people to its services, while also allowing visitors to enter a prize raffle.

Mrs Bendel, who has also worked at a spa in Leicestershire and taught at Norwich City College, stated that the shop had been “really busy from the moment the doors opened” and saw steady business during its first week.

“I just want a nice little business of my own. I don’t want anything more than that. I want it to be a successful little shop,” she added.

Simply Beauty is open from Tuesday to Saturday, with appointments available in the day and in the evening.

For more information, please call 01379 308338 or visit the shop’s Facebook page by going to www.facebook.com/1simplybeauty