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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Beauty school latest feather in Exchange District’s cap

By: Murray McNeill

Posted: 05/2/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Aveda Canada’s Nan Campbell says the Exchange District’s growing vibrancy was a key reason to locate the institute in the Ashdown Warehouse. (RUTH BONNEVILLE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Photo Store

A new beauty school/salon/retail store -- Aveda Canada's first in Manitoba -- is injecting new life into the downtown's Exchange District.

The Aveda Institute, which is celebrating its official grand opening next Monday, has the capacity to train up to 60 students at a time in its 9,000-square-foot location on the main floor of the Ashdown Warehouse condominium complex at the corner of Bannatyne Avenue and Rorie Street.

Its staff of 10 full-time workers is expected to swell to 20 by next spring, when the enrolment in its school is expected to reach full capacity.

That's a lot of potential shoppers being added to the area on a daily basis. And that doesn't take into account the customers visiting the salon and retail store, which offer a full range of Aveda beauty products and services.

The real beauty of it, according to the executive director of the Exchange District Business Improvement Zone is that many of those students could be first-time visitors to the Exchange.

And Brian Timmerman believes that once see what the area offers, they'll be back for more in their leisure time. He said that's what happened after Red River College opened its downtown campus on Princess Street about a decade ago. "Lots of students suddenly realize what's down here and the number of things that are available to them from a social aspect and a retail aspect," he said.

Timmerman said Aveda is the latest in series of health and beauty salons, clothing stores, and restaurants that have set up shop in the Exchange District in recent years to serve the area's growing population of young professionals and retirees.

The BIZ estimates there are now between 800 and 1,000 people living in the Exchange, with another 300 to 400 to be added over the next three or four years as more new apartments and condominiums get built.

"That's what's driving the need for services," Timmerman said. "And you're starting to see the kinds of services that are needed for a viable community."

Aveda team leader Nan Campbell confirmed it was one of the reasons Aveda chose the Exchange District as the site for its first Manitoba beauty school/salon/retail store.

"We're absolutely catering to what's happening in the Exchange -- to the new urban density that's being created there."

Shindico Realty Inc.'s Michael Stronger, who is the leasing agent for the Ashdown's retail space, said Aveda's decision to open in the heart of the city is a big vote of confidence in Winnipeg and in the Exchange District.

He said the firm has schools in cities such as Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver, "and they specifically sought out the Exchange District because it's similar to the areas in the other cities where they are already successful."

The Aveda Institute is located in the space that used to house the former Capelli Academy hairstyling and beauty-care school. The director of the new Aveda Institute is Roberto Sinopoli, whose family owned the Capelli Academy.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition May 2, 2012 B3

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