Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C,I-Batavia) is continuing his series of visits to local small businesses to commemorate National Women's Small Business Month by visiting Revival Beauty Parlor in Medina. Having already visited Gilliana’s Diner in Batavia, he will continue to visit local women-owned small businesses in the 139th Assembly District throughout the month of October.

Gretchen Carr is someone who lived and worked in Medina all her life. Coming from a family of hair stylists, she always dreamed of owning her own salon one day. After working her way through the BOCES cosmetology program, she began working for a salon the following summer, earning her license. After serving in the industry for 25 years and carefully saving up to do so, Gretchen and her husband purchased the building that formerly housed a salon known as Vision 2000. They turned it into “Revival Beauty Parlor,” a fitting name after she worked to breathe new life into the business.

“Gretchen’s story of finding success in doing what she loves is a living testament to the idea of the American Dream, and the dedication her and her staff have in serving their customers, even while contending with rapidly-changing restrictions, is truly admirable,” said Hawley.

Since opening in 2018, Gretchen and her staff have faced an uphill battle against restrictions and mandates placed upon them throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. These restrictions limited their ability to serve as many customers as they had grown accustomed to, and even forced them to close their doors entirely for a nearly three-month period. In recent months however, Gretchen has since been able to once again open the doors to her salon, and welcome new and existing customers as the business’ operations have come closer to pre-pandemic normalcy.

Assemblyman Hawley will be visiting the business, located at 521 Main St., Medina at 11:45 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16. During the visit, they will discuss the challenges the business has faced in recent months. Assemblyman Hawley will honor Gretchen for her efforts to bring a new business to Medina and persevering in the face of obstacles to the business’ success.

 “I look forward to visiting the salon to discuss with her how she’s been able to succeed in the industry, overcome challenges she faced when opening her salon, operating it through a pandemic, and what hopes she holds for the future of Revival Beauty Parlor,” said Hawley.