Adeline’s salon moves across Chester Creek

Adeline Wright, right, and her daughter Galalee stand outside the new location of their Duluth boutique salon in Duluth’s Endion neighborhood. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

The owner of an East Hillside hair salon will move her business across Chester Creek to a historic building nearby in the Endion neighborhood.

Adeline Inc.(opens in new tab) owner Adeline Wright said her namesake boutique salon will relocate to 1830 E. Eighth St. — at the corner of 19th Avenue East — later this fall. The building had been home to a Vintage Italian Pizza takeout location. The new salon will be seven blocks away from the longtime Adeline’s space at 1132 E. Ninth St.

Wright established her business in Downtown Duluth in 2001 and has been styling hair in a remodeled East Hillside upholstery shop for 15 years. When landlords put her current building up for sale, Wright said she was forced to look for a new place.

“I realized I was not going to be able to stay there and I kind of panicked,” she said. “This neighborhood is so important to me. This is where my home is. This is where a lot of my clients live. It’s a very convenient location for them.”

Adeline Inc. boutique and salon will move to 1830 E. Eighth St. later this year. The building is the site of the former Vintage Italian Pizza. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

Vintage Italian Pizza closed its doors in December 2023 and its corner space stood vacant for more than two years. Wright said she contacted the new property owners about relocating into the 100-year-old building. A deal was struck: Wright would oversee a building makeover and rent the renovated former V.I.P. space.

At Sara’s Table Chester Creek Cafe, Dunbar Floral and Gifts, and Benchmark Tattoo are a few of the businesses located in the neighborhood. Nordic Performance, a physical therapy and wellness center, is moving into the former McTavish Quilting Studio(opens in new tab), which is relocating to Biwabik.

“I’m very excited to be on that corner,” said Wright. “I really like these neighborhood commerce hubs. They’re really important. They add a vibrancy and we really don’t have a lot of them left anymore. So to participate in keeping something like that alive feels really good.”

Galalee Wright, age 6 in this photo, works with a client in the longtime Adeline boutique salon at 1132 E. Ninth St. (Submitted photo)

Wright has operated the two-chair salon with her daughter, Gala, for the past eight years. She said the new space will be custom-designed with more room for prep work and a bigger hair care and retail sales area. Vintage and gift items from Laura Mullen’s Aura Eye(opens in new tab) Lincoln Park pop-up will be featured. Outside, a black and white paint scheme was added to the building and transom windows will be restored to fill the shop with light.

“This is the first salon that I’ve built out that Gala gets to weigh in on,” she said. “Some of her aesthetic preferences come into play and we truly get to build something that feels like us.”

Longtime clients are cheering the move.

“I’m super pumped,” said Jen Stenersen, who first sat for an Adeline haircut 23 years ago in the Greysolon building on Superior Street. “I feel like Adeline is going to give that little corner a sweet boost of energy.”

Stenersen said Adeline’s has become more than a hair salon. It’s a community space that brings people together. For example, Stenersen said, she met her life partner through a “singles board” posted in the salon.

Adeline Wright has operated a boutique salon in the East Hillside for 15 years. Her shop will move seven blocks away later this year. (Photo by Mark Nicklawske)

“I think she has the gift of making any space she moves into ‘Adeline’s space.’ She just has a gift for creating an atmosphere that’s fun and comfortable and creative and relaxing,” she said.

The two-story corner building has a long history of hair care. Duluth Public Library street directories show the Mary Kirby Beauty Shop operated in the west side of the building in 1935, followed by The Lang Barber Shop and the University Barber Shop, which operated at the location from 1962 to 1989.

For decades various confectionery owners used the corner space until Sylvia and Sid Fink opened Sid’s Delicatessen in 1958. According to the Nanci and Allan Garon website,(opens in new tab) which documents Twin Ports Jewish history, the couple retired and closed the deli in 1978. Street directories show the corner changed hands multiple times with Funky Marvin’s restaurant, Hiller’s Critters pet shop and Zippy’s Pizza Express working in the neighborhood until V.I.P. opened in 1989.

Wright said she is eager to move into the new neighborhood and hopes to open in the next month or so. A temporary salon at Illusions Salon, 1218 E. First St., has been established during the November transition for clients in need of a visit.

“I think the new place is going to be a really beautiful, cozy, busy shop,” said Wright. “It’s going to be really sweet.”