Amber Michelle adds high-end styling to Lakeside

Amber Russell expects to open her Amber Michelle Salon in Lakeside in August.

“With the walls going up and the furniture and lights arriving,” said Amber Russell of her Amber Michelle Salon that will open at Lakeside DFW in August, “it is starting to feel surreal.”

“I am so excited to bring my business closer to my existing customers, who mostly live in Flower Mound, Highland Village, Lantana, and Coppell,” she added. (Some come from as far away as Houston and Austin.)

“Moving to Lakeside is like a dream come true,” insisted Russell, who has been been in the styling business for nine years. “It’s going to be awesome — sort of like a little city with lots of foot traffic.

“I am so happy to be in on the ground floor, literally and figuratively!”

The salon’s brand name comes from the proprietor’s first and middle names. The Lakeside location will provide space for Russell, two stylists, an assistant, and a receptionist.

Located across Lakeside Parkway from Elan Lakeside’s club house pool and workout facility, Amber Michelle will serve men and kids, but cater primarily (no surprise) to women.

“We will offer cuts, color, straightening, hair extensions, perms, blow drys, facial waxing, and makeup,” she said.

Russell, a mother of two young children, enjoys a healthy dose of family support. Husband DJ Russell, a mortgage loan officer who she met in Lewisville when the two were in high school, helps with payroll, taxes, and marketing.

“Our parents and families are all here, too,” she said. “They help with my two kids (a daughter, 3 and a half years old, and a boy, 2) and are excited about my move to Lakeside. We took them by the new location on Mother’s Day.”

“I started to think about moving when my business began bursting at the seams,” Russell explained. “I needed room to expand.”

“My husband became interested in all the building at Lakeside,” she said, “so we investigated.

“The more we learned, the more we believed the location, the environment, and the community would be a fit.”

A meeting was arranged with Jimmy Archie, managing partner of Realty Capital, master developer of Lakeside DFW.

Russell at Amber Michelle’s current location at the Salon and Spa Galleria at 3549 Grapevine Mills Parkway, just a mile and a half from Lakeside.

“We were looking for a successful owner/operator with a local client base,” said Archie, “who understood the potential at Lakeside.

“At that time (about a year ago), Lakeside looked like just a big construction site,” he noted. “A lot of people could not envision the urban-style community we were building.

“But Amber got it,” Archie added, “and never doubted it would be a success.”

“I am betting she will attract a lot of new customers from her storefront in Lakeside.”

“Amber is a great person all around,” said client and Flower Mound resident Sherri Peahl. “And she’s an outstanding hair dresser who knows how to style hair and how to make it healthy.

“She never pushes anything and offers only high-end, high class products.”

Peahl and her 16-year-old daughter won’t have to go far to visit the Lakeside location of Amber Michelle.

“We are moving into a loft in late July,” Peahl said. “When we learned about Lakeside, we knew it was for us. We love the mix of people, the shops, the trails, the lake.

“The location also brings me closer to my favorite malls, the tennis courts at the DFW Hilton, major freeways and DFW Airport.

“But,” she laughed, “my daughter and I are worried about our budget.

“Our coiffing bills are going to go sky high with Amber so close to us.”

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