With java and parties, Tymm’s is more than just a styling salon
By Susan C. Thomson
Photograph by Amber Schmisseur
From the moment they leased the building that used to be Coco’s restaurant, at 731 S. Lindbergh, partners Roseann Schackman and Tymm Tobias were thinking of anything but your mother’s hair salon. They envisioned an establishment that, at 5,500 square feet, would be about three times the size of St. Louis’ average salon—perhaps even the area’s largest.
Working from a design by architect Tom Niemeier, they gutted the place and rebuilt it. They gave it two rooms for skin care, three stations for manicures and 16 for hair styling, a coffee bar, a gas-log fireplace and various nooks and alcoves for the display and sale of fashion accessories and decorative gifts.
Then, as the place was taking shape, Schackman and Tobias had a “Eureka!” moment while reading a catalog that offered styling stations on wheels. With mobile furniture, they figured, they could easily clear the space and set it up for advanced classes for local hairstylists. Once the stations were installed, it dawned on them that they could also rent out the premises for gatherings of up to 150 people.
In the several months since, on word of mouth alone, they’ve booked birthday parties, a benefit and even a wedding. (Chairs set up in a chapel-like arrangement for the ceremony were later rearranged for a catered sit-down dinner and then removed altogether for dancing.)
The two women have been in the salon business for more than 20 years, Tobias as a stylist and teacher, Schackman as a receptionist and manager; they overlapped for several years at the old Green Door in Plaza Frontenac. At Tymm’s, they’re on their own together for the first time. Schackman sees to the business, and Tobias takes care of the creative side of the house.
There’s no model for this salon/store/school/party house combo. “It’s way out of the box,” Schackman says. And it will go out even further on February 4 when those styling stations will be wheeled away and the salon turned into a temporary bistro for a concert by jazz singer Erin Bode. More such events will follow, Schackman says. For information or tickets or a haircut, call the shop at 314-432-8967.
