Employer of the Year Nominee: Panache Salon & Spa

Edna Siegel has spent 46 years in the salon and spa business.

Fresh out of beauty school, she spent ten years working in salons, until she decided to open her own.

"It was right off of Liberty Street down in the lower end of, not a basement, but a raised building," she said of her first hair salon. "That was my first adventure in business. The real drive of that was to do something better."

That's exactly what she did. She combined her passion for pampering, love of French flare, and opened Panache Salon and Spa 12 years ago. French for dashing or flamboyant style of manner, Panache is all that, and more.

"We do everything from makeup to eyelash extensions, waxing, all kinds of facials, microdermabrasions and massage," Siegel said of her services.

In 2012, Siegel moved Panache to the Yorktown Center on West 12th Street. Her vision? To make clients feel at home.

"What we want is for every client to feel like it's their Cheers Bar," she said. "Where everyone feels like that's their home and somebody's gonna great them, that you're not just a number."

The success of her is employees is just as important. Siegel has grown Panache from just seven employees, to 30, and plans to add at least 15 more to her team.

"It's the greatest thing when I have an employee working in a salon and they can go out and buy their own house," she said. "To have that kind of financial security is really important. It's not just a stupid job, it's a really important job. We take good care of people, we make their days. And that's really important to me."

It's that passion and attitude that has earned her business a nomination for DevelopErie's 2014 Employer of the Year. The winner will be announced January 22.

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