Williamsport, Pa. — Two businesses have recently opened on Williams Street in Williamsport, and they’re both owned, operated, and geared towards women.
The Waxed storefront at 434 William St.
Waxed
Owner of Waxed Mindy Day.
Waxed opened June 1 and offers a variety of waxing services, as well as eyebrow lamination and eyelash extensions.
Waxed also carries beauty products made by local entrepreneurs.
Owner Mindy Day said she opened Waxed because she saw that there was no other focused waxing bar in the area.
Waxed offers a wide range of waxing services as well as eyebrow lamination and eyelash extensions.
“In every up-and-coming city, wax bars are a known thing,” Day said. “I researched the market and really found there wasn’t anybody doing it and decided ‘OK, we need to do it.’”
“It’s been great,” Day said. “Everything is in one building.”
Day was already a business owner when her and her husband opened Waxed. She had left nursing in 2020 to run her napkin company, My Luvkins, full-time. Day said Luvkins is actually run out of the upstairs of the same Williams Street building.
Day said the reaction from the community has been “absolutely phenomenal.”
“I knew we needed this or else I wouldn’t have done it, but I’m absolutely blown away by just how much we needed this,” Day said. “It’s proven it through the volume and the support. It’s incredible.”
Day said that what sets them apart from salons that provide waxing services is their ability to perform multiple “intimate waxing services in a day.”
“[Our employees] have taken specialized courses and training that we’ve done through here on those waxing services,” Day said. “Not only have they learned a really successful technique but they’re doing it over and over and over several times a day.”
Day said they had a trainer come in from New York for these classes and all employees are licensed cosmetologists.
Waxed also sells other local entrepreneurs’ beauty products for a small commission.
Waxed is open Tuesday through Saturday with service prices ranging between $10 and $150. Those interested in booking an appointment can do so here.
Skeleton Key Boutique’s second location at 442 William St
Skeleton Key Boutique
Owner of the Skeleton Key Boutique Ashley Foltz.
The other recently-opened business on Williams Street is the second location for the Lock Haven-based clothing retailer Skeleton Key Boutique.
Owner Ashley Foltz said the reason she chose Williamsport as the location for her second storefront is the number of her regulars that would come from Williamsport to Lock Haven.
The Skeleton Key in Williamsport offers a large selection of casual and comfortable styles.
“We had tons of requests to get here,” Foltz said. “Also, with the mall closing, there’s just not a lot of shopping options here.”
The Williamsport location opened at the end of August and Foltz said they’ve had a “great response” and a “lot of support from local businesses.”
Dressing rooms at the Skeleton Key’s Williamsport location.
The clothing is mostly sourced from LA and Atlanta, where she makes trips every few months to selected items for the store. Items are then shipped weekly to the store.
Complimentary bar inside an old vault at the Skeleton Key’s Williamsport location.
“What’s great about us and what makes us unique is we get in about 60-80 new styles every single week,” Foltz said. “We have our two locations and online, so we’re constantly getting fresh inventory in.”
Foltz said they bring in a max of 12 for any given item, and once that’s gone, they’ll “bring something else in.”
The overall style that the store goes for is “trendy, comfortable, and casual,” according to Foltz.
“Things you can easily wear to work but can transition into evenings and weekends,” Foltz said.
The store does carry a few dressier pieces, but that’s not their focus, Foltz explained.
It’s important to keep prices affordable, Foltz said, and noted the store offers sizes from extra small through 3X.
Foltz also said that they have a very wide age range for their customers saying that “daughters, mothers, and grandmothers” will all come in and shop together.
The dressing area features a couch and space for people to “hangout” and try things on, said Foltz.
The Williamsport location also features a unique aspect by offering a complimentary, self-serve bar inside an old vault left behind from one of the building’s prior uses. The bar features beer and whiskey, as well as coffee for those not interested in the hard stuff.
Prior to Skeleton Key moving in, it was a law office and still had all the old cubicles and carpeting inside. Foltz said they had to remove eight layers of flooring to reveal the original weathered wood floors.
“We tried to keep everything original, so these are the original wood floors,” Foltz said. “We tried to keep as much of the cool history of the building as we could.”
Foltz said they completed all the renovations in two weeks.
The business got its name “Skeleton Key Boutique,” not from a master key, but because the first gift her husband gave her was a skeleton key necklace, Foltz explained.
The Williamsport location is open Tuesday through Saturday and hours are 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Those interested in shopping online can do so through the store’s website.
