webster on the web

You might say that Carmen Cong is an equal-opportunity hairdresser. She believes that everyone, regardless of their ability — or disability — should be able to get a haircut or facial or pedicure.

Believe it or not, that’s an uncommon philosophy in the hairdressing business, but one that Carmen has made the focus of her new salon.

Carmen Cong owns ELLA Salon, which she opened at 36 East Main Street in June. The very tastefully-appointed salon features four plush pedicure stations, manicure and hairdressing stations, and a separate room for facials and skin treatments. There’s a coffee pot for those (like me) who need caffeine pretty much everywhere we go, and a very friendly staff of nail technicians, hairdressers and aestheticians.

But the similarities between ELLA and other salons pretty much end there. Carmen’s deeply caring nature has taken her business far beyond that.

Hairdressing has always been her passion. “I’ve been doing hair since I was a kid; I was the girl on the porch braiding everyone’s hair.” But “I’ve always liked to help people,” too, she said. A few years ago she realized how she could combine those passions and make a real difference.

That difference is a completely handicapped-friendly salon.

“I really believe every person regardless of disability should be able to feel beautiful and have access to the same services that others do,” Carmen said. So she’s stocked her salon with handicapped-friendly equipment. She’s got a “hair funnel,” for example, for people who can’t lean back to get their hair washed. The facial room is wheelchair accessible, and the table is fully adjustable. Pedicure basins can be brought to a wheelchair for customers who have difficulty getting into the lounges.

Owner Carmen Cong

But it was an event in her own life which prompted probably the most wonderful accommodation of all.

Three years ago, Carmen’s youngest daughter Maya was diagnosed with autism. Raising a child with autism was an eye-opening experience. As any parent doing so knows, even simple tasks can sometimes become monumental challenges, like getting dressed, eating a meal, and picking up toys.

And getting a haircut.

Children with autism commonly get upset when people touch them, or by strange sounds, or feelings, like when scissors cut through hair. They often have difficulty sitting still for extended periods of time. A simple haircut, which might normally take only 15 minutes, could easily turn into a two-hour long (or longer) ordeal for child and parent.

Carmen is totally OK with that.

The first thing she does is interview the parent to find out what the child’s needs are, and what kinds of accommodations need to be made, like a portable swing, a small trampoline, or simply room to spin. Then she’ll set up an appointment for the child and spend as much time as necessary to help make the child feel comfortable…and beautiful.

“If I have to close the shop and spend several hours, that’s OK,” she said. “It’s not about the money.”

“Salons are not about promoting something like that,” she added. Well, until now, that is.

* * *

ELLA Salon is located at 36 East Main Street. The name is pronounced “Ᾱ’-yah,” which means “she” or “her” in Spanish, but customers of the male persuasion are also more than welcome. Services include everything from hair care to nail care, parafin treatments and keratin treatments, manicures and pedicures. Call her at 585-209 ELLA (3552) or check out the website here.

Even if you don’t need a service, stop in and meet Carmen. She is easily one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and her commitment to helping people — especially kids — will inspire you. She is a terrific addition to our village.

The bad news is, Mac 5 Bikes is moving from its Webster Village location at the corner of East Main Street and Lapham Park. The good news is, they’re only moving about 100 yards down the street.

Even better yet, the new place is more than twice the size of the old one.

Mac 5 Bikes’ owner Chris Makowski told me that he and his wife had been looking for a larger place for almost a year, and came a hair’s breadth from signing a contract in one of the nearby plazas. But ultimately they decided “we’d rather stay in the village. It’s a more hometown, family atmosphere” than being located next to a Starbucks, he said.  Plus, “Our true customers wouldn’t ride to a shopping plaza.”

The new storefront, located at 37 East Main Street, is more than 5,000 square feet, more than double the floor space they have now. That will allow them to get all of their inventory out of the warehouse and on display, or at least stored on the second floor, where it will be much more accessible.

Chris added that they’re even thinking about using that second floor space for spin classes in the future.

But what’s really cool about the new place is that it’s historic.  According to the Town Historian, the building dates to around 1888, and was originally a funeral home. It still has some very neat old features including an antique in-wall safe and a 1940s-era pully-and-rope-operated elevator. Chris said they hope to eventually restore the building to the way it looked more than a century ago.

But for now, they’re just focused on putting some final details on the new place and opening the doors to the bike-riding public, hopefully by the third week in July.

I heard some business news from Supervisor Ron Nesbitt a few weeks ago, confirmed recently by a story in this week’s Webster Post.

Three new businesses are coming to town, two of them helping to fill in that big open space next to Kohl’s at Town Center Plaza. The first is a store called HomeGoods, which I have never heard of before.  A quick Internet search, however, tells me that there’s already one of these stores in Victor. They describe themselves on their website thusly:

“HomeGoods is where savvy shoppers of every style discover distinctive home fashions at up to 60% off department and specialty store prices every day.”

I don’t consider myself a savvy shopper (unless “frugal” and “cheap” are synonyms for “savvy”) so I probably won’t be shopping there very much.

Sharing that empty space will be an LA Fitness.  Even after that and HomeGoods come in, there will still be some empty space for yet another store to join them.

The third new business heading our way is a Dairy Queen (YAY!) which will set up shop on Hard Road across from VanIngen Drive (just north of the entrance to Webster Square/Kmart Plaza). Developers hope that this will be up and running by the end of the year (when everyone will want ice cream). LA Fitness and HomeGoods still have some hoops to jump through, so there’s no word yet on when construction will begin for them.

And while we’re on the topic of new local businesses, construction on the new McDonald’s near Walgreens is proceeding apace, as well as the Tim Horton’s/Express Mart at the corner of Five Mile Line and Ridge Road.  Can’t wait to see what Ridge Road traffic will be like when these are finished.

CrossFit has come to Webster.

If you’re not familiar with this diabolically torturous, yet strangely enjoyable fitness regimen, allow me to enlighten you.

CrossFit  is a strength and conditioning program comprised of short, intense workouts including any or many of the following activities: running, rowing, jumping rope, weightlifting, flipping tires, carrying heavy objects, push ups, sit ups, ring pull-ups, chin-ups, box jumps, medicine-ball throws…and those are just the ones I can think of off the top of my head.  The chosen activities are done repeatedly, at top intensity, for 15-30 minutes straight.

Now you understand why I called it “torturous.”

But CrossFit is also addictive.  That’s why CrossFit training facilities — or “boxes” as they are affectionately called — have been cropping up all over the States ever since the brand was created 12 years ago.

The newest of those boxes is CrossFit Webster, which opened up just last week at 1847 Empire Blvd.  Last Friday as part of their grand opening celebration they held a free workout.  Actually, they called it a “bootcamp,” which more accurately reflects the intensity that typifies CrossFit training.

I have some CrossFit experience (thanks to friends who host regular workouts in their garages), so I jumped on the chance to try a session in a real “box.”

Before the bootcamp began, I chatted with Laura Rice, CrossFit Webster’s owner.  She and her husband Jeff have owned Flower City CrossFit in Brighton since 2010.  Even back then they had an eye on Webster with thoughts of opening a second gym. Finally, when the time seemed right, Laura took the leap and left her full-time IT job.

CrossFit Webster was born.

Laura found what she calls “prime CrossFit space” in a warehouse tucked back off of Empire Blvd. next to Delta Sonic. For two solid weeks, family, friends and Flower City CrossFit members worked day and night to transform the 7,000-square foot warehouse space into a gleaming workout facility.  Then they stocked it with enough equipment and apparatus to keep 48 people busy and sweating at once.

I know that for a fact, because I was one of those 48 people last Friday night.

For 18 minutes, plus rest breaks which were nowhere NEAR long enough, we sweated through a workout comprised of ring rows, situps, rowing, slam ball, jump rope, and the ever-popular burpees.  (If you don’t know what a burpee is, suffice it to say that EVERYBODY groaned when we were told they were part of the workout.)

I am pleased to report that I did not die.  In fact, once I powered through the “I-hate-every-single-trainer-in-this-room” phase of the workout (which usually occurs at or about burpee #20), it was kind of fun.  There’s a certain satisfaction to pushing your body to the edge and coming out stronger for it.

But more than that, CrossFit workouts are fun because you feel like you’re part of a community. I knew very few people in that room, but that didn’t keep us from cheering each other on, high-fiving as we walked to the next station, and exchanging words of encouragement during rest breaks.

So in that regard, CrossFit Webster has nailed it.  Great people, great equipment, great workouts.

But all this still didn’t make it very easy. But as Laura reminded me, “It never gets easier. It just sucks less.”  That is so true.

Find out more about CrossFit Webster: click here to go to their website, or click here to see their Facebook page.