LEWISTON — Christina and Breeanna Tucci took a leap last fall, opening a new salon in a pandemic. Six months later, the couple moved into a Sabattus Street space three times the size when they grew faster than expected.
Courtney Lee of Livermore Falls has her nails done last month by Brittany Tucci, right, at Tucci & Co. Salon in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Christina’s most popular service: A cut and a beard trim. Breeanna’s: “blonding” and hair extensions.
They’ve styled Tucci + Co. Salon to appeal to men and women and customers open to making a day of it, with hot towel pedicures, full body waxing, teeth whitening, eyelash extensions, manicures and even semi-permanent eyebrow tattoos.
“It’s not many salons that have a barber and a cosmetologist in one building,” Breeanna, 27, said. “That’s been a hit ever since. I have women come in for a color, they’re like, ‘Oh, you have a barber here? I’m going to bring in my husband, my kid.'”
The staff is rounded out with Breeanna’s sister, Destiny Spaulding, an aesthetician, Christina’s sister, Brittany Tucci, a nail technician, and Celeste Mallett, a second cosmetologist.
“We definitely want to start offering things that you definitely don’t find in this area,” Christina, 29, said. “When you book an appointment, you want to feel like that attention is yours. We want people to feel more relaxed.”
Breeanna entered the industry first, renting booths at other salons for the past six years, most recently at Auburn’s Beauty Bar. Christina decided two years ago to go to school for barbering.
The couple lives in Lisbon with three young children, ages 11 to 2, who came to them through foster care and are soon to be adopted.
Breeanna Tucci tones Reagan Nadeau’s hair at Tucci & Co. Salon in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
Flexibility was part of the appeal when they initially opened in 400 square feet last November. By May, they moved into the much larger former Black Shark building at 938 Sabattus St.
“I don’t have a certain schedule that I have to abide by, so if somebody really needs to get in for their kids, I can come in at 8 in the morning if I want to,” Christina said. “It’s just the freedom of being able to help somebody out.”
Breeanna, left, and Christina Tucci own Lewiston’s Tucci & Co. Salon on Sabattus Street in Lewiston. Daryn Slover/Sun Journal
She spends some days doing only kids cuts and has built a clientele fast enough that she started at two days a week and moved to full-time within three months.
“Right now, the people that walk in, (fades are) a really trendy haircut, just like the mullets were,” she said. “I haven’t run into too many quarantine haircuts lately, but in the beginning of the pandemic when we first were able to open back up, there was a lot of weird haircuts I had to fix from mom’s trying it out.”
Breeanna started Tucci + Co. Salon with a busy calendar of regulars. The past year, she said, she’s seen more women try hair extensions, getting out of their comfort zones.
Looking five years ahead, she’d like them both to be busier still.
“I’m already wanting to have a second location but Christina’s telling me I’m crazy,” Breeanna said. “I definitely want us to be even bigger.”
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