Silver Scissors reborn in the Glebe

By Eli Saikaley

The better-than-ever Silver Scissors Hair Salon, now located at 877 Bank Street. Photo: Eli Saikaley
The better-than-ever Silver Scissors Hair Salon, now located at 877 Bank Street. Photo: Eli Saikaley
It’s been a hard three months for the Bank Street businesses that were destroyed in a massive blaze, which police investigators ruled as arson, though they still haven’t come much closer to an arrest. Three months later, the Glebe Silver Scissors hair salon is back in business. It’s been said that we made it look easy – but it was far from painless.

The first few days were rough on all of us. I own the salon along with my cousin Bruce. We’re in a better place now and we’re excited to be back. It took hard work and a hint of luck to reopen Silver Scissors, one of several businesses that were gutted in the early-April fire that engulfed the commercial building at Bank Street and Fifth Avenue.

The salon managed to find new digs at 877 Bank Street, not more than a block from our previous location. Silver Scissors took over the new lease in mid-June and, after just a few weeks of construction, reopened on July 21. Our regulars are happy to see us and a lot of people are coming in just to say hello.

The salon had temporarily moved customers to another hair salon we own on Riverside Drive, but we were determined to find a new permanent home in the Glebe, where I grew up. We’re excited to be back here. It’s been a bit of a haul to get here, but we knew all along that this was the place we wanted to be.

I am optimistic about the business making a full recovery, since traffic from Lansdowne Park – the completed Lansdowne redevelopment opened in June, while Silver Scissors was on involuntary hiatus – ought to help recoup any customers we may have lost.

Now, it’s on to the next project: the neighbouring Encino Taco Shop, owned by my son Sebastian and me, which had been open for only 36 days – versus Silver Scissors, which had been around for 36 years – before it burned down. We expect to reopen the taco shop by the fall.

The fire that devastated several Glebe businesses in April, including the Silver Scissors Hair Salon. Photo: Eli Saikaley
The fire that devastated several Glebe businesses in April, including the Silver Scissors Hair Salon. Photo: Eli Saikaley
But while Silver Scissors’ reopening marks a successful rebound, it offers little in the way of closure for us and for others who are left wondering what – and who – caused the fire. Police have said that no arrests have been made regarding the fire and the file remains open. It feels a little empty, a little weird. I wish we could close that chapter.

Eli Saikaley is co-owner of the Silver Scissors Hair Salon, which recently reopened after a devastating fire in April.

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