Bliss Beauty Center, a mainstay at Rancho Shopping Center for more than 20 years, closed up shop suddenly last month after sending a short-notice email to customers.
According to the email, sent Feb. 28 to people on the Bliss mailing list, the spa and salon shuttered permanently due to financial hardship. The closing date given was March 15, but the salon reportedly closed 12 days before that.
Both Bliss and owner Tiffany Stone Lehman were unreachable, and phone calls went directly to voicemail when the Town Crier asked for comment.
Many of those who worked at Bliss were also, or are now, working at Voila Hair Design, located at 221 State St. in Los Altos, Voila owner Trina Ngo said. They include six to seven of the hair stylists and two manicurists.
De Anza Properties, Rancho Shopping Center’s property management company, was just as surprised as many Bliss customers when the business announced plans to vacate the property.
“Their quick decision to leave their space, with years left on their lease, was as much of a surprise and disappointment to us as it was to our community,” De Anza Properties officials said in a statement.
De Anza Properties representatives added that the pandemic altered how many businesses, especially those in Los Altos, chose to operate, and they believed they were fair in how they accommodated rent and rent repayment. Bliss was given 70% off its total rent, the representatives added.
Gift-card holders vent frustrations
Some local residents who had unredeemed gift cards for Bliss took to Nextdoor and Yelp to air their grievances.
Shelley Doran of Los Altos said she stopped by Bliss at 5:30 p.m. March 3 to buy some products and saw nearly all of shelves bare.
“The store was mostly emptied and the owner said they were closing permanently at 6 p.m.,” she wrote in a Nextdoor post. “They had ‘just decided to close due to lease issues.’ Many people including myself had JUST purchased gift cards 16 days earlier for Valentine’s Day gifts.”
Yelp reviewer Michelle P. condemned the short notice clients received and left a one-star review March 9.
“I am very disappointed in the way Tiffany closed the Beauty Center,” she said. “Not even a text, email or phone call to steadfast, long-time clients to let us know they were closing. And yes, so many gift certificates out there not being honored.”
Dr. Kevin Sawyer, a member of the Rancho Merchants Association Board and retired family practice dentist, said in a statement that Bliss will be missed, but he has hope for the next, undetermined business that will occupy the salon’s old location.
“We are sad to see Bliss go, but know change is inevitable,” he stated. “Our hope is to find a new tenant who has equally if not more to offer our neighbors and friends.”
