Erica Koenig

WINSTED — Erica Koenig’s beauty parlor, Aero Hair Studio,  recently settled into a second-floor space at the Mad River Lofts, one  of the row of brick industrial buildings that line Main Street in  Winsted.

Her shop, a cozy space with large windows, high ceilings,  gleaming hardwood floors and rustic brick walls, offers plenty of space  for Koenig and her clients, plus another stylist who rents a chair at  the salon. She uses and sells a line of Matrix products and uses the  company’s colors for her customers, providing a consistent level of hair  care.

Right now, the salon is decorated for Christmas with a lighted tree,  ornaments and little touches of holiday cheer everywhere. Koenig, a hair  stylist for more than 30 years, said she is happy in her new digs.

“I started out in Torrington; I was in New Hartford, and  Canton for a while,” she said. “But with COVID-19, hairdressers took a  big hit — it hurt the whole industry.”

When restrictions started to lift earlier this year, not  every customer came back, and if they did, their beauty routines weren’t  the same, she said.

“People weren’t getting their hair colored as regularly,  and that makes a difference for a salon,” Koenig said. “And other people  were just afraid to go out. When you go from having someone come in  every six weeks for a cut and color, to losing them or seeing them cut  back, that’s a loss.”

Koenig, a native of the Riverton section of Barkhamsted, said she was  lucky to have faithful clients who followed her when she moved.

“It’s going well here,” she said. “My customers followed  me, which is great. I have people from West Hartford and Granby and they  come here now. Everyone says they like it.”

Getting her permits for the Mad River Lofts space was not easy, she said.

“There are so many changes to the regulations because of  the pandemic, that the health department really came down on us with a  lot of requirements,” she said.

When the pandemic first shut the state down in March 2020, salons  like Koenig’s weren’t allowed to reopen until early summer. Like  restaurants and other service-related businesses, hair salons installed  plexiglas shields for their chairs, wore protective equipment and  gloves, and followed a rigorous and strict routine to sanitize all  surfaces repeatedly as customers came and went.

That hasn’t changed, Koenig said, and is a challenge for a small salon like hers.

“We usually only have one or two people in here at a  time, and the girl who works here and I do swing shifts, so we’re never  here at the same time,” she said. “That cuts down on the risk for us and  for the customers.”

Koenig chose Mad River Lofts because of its location and  appearance. When she previously approached a Realtor about renting  there, she was told the owners were only renting office space.

“I found out this time that there was a space available, and it was  the same one I was looking at last time,” she said. “It was just a great  opportunity.”

The loft building is at 10 Bridge St., just off Prospect  Street along the Mad River, is just one of a collection of industrial  buildings that stand as a reminder of Winsted’s past. They are in  various stages of disrepair and disintegration, even — but the lofts  building stands out. It is filled with a variety of tenants, ranging  from Aero to the Mad River Cooperative, the organization focused on  creating a cooperative market in town, to a tattoo studio, a yoga  studio, Lil’ Sunflower, a creative arts business; offices and a room of  cubicles that can be rented, according to Koenig.

The building is secure — everyone coming in must have the  code for the door’s keypad at the rear entrance. The parking lot is  tucked on the northern side of the brick building, the front of which  faces Route 44 overlooking Main Street.

Koenig welcomes customers by appointment only, and will  provide them with the access code when they arrive.

 To reach Aero Hair  Studio, call 860-605-7264 or email aerohairstudio@yahoo.com. 

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