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NILES — A Buchanan cosmetologist is bringing her talents to downtown Niles with the opening of a new beauty salon and boutique.

Beauty Bar 201, 225 N. Fourth St., Niles, has recently opened its Niles location to the community. The salon will be open Tuesday through every other Saturday by appointment. Hair cut walk-ins are welcome.

Founded by Buchanan native Natalie Thompson in August 2021, Beauty Bar 201 first opened its doors in Granger, Indiana, and provides a variety of services including eyelash extensions, waxing, airbrush spray tanning, cosmetic teeth whitening, microblading and more. Beauty Bar 201 also features a small boutique featuring clothing items as well as earrings handmade by Thompson, herself.

A Buchanan High School graduate, Thompson’s interest in cosmetology bloomed after participating in a cosmetology career and technical education (CTE) program in high school. After graduating cosmetology school, Thompson worked under local beauticians before opening Beauty Bar 201.

With the launch of the Goshen location a success, Thompson recently began searching for opportunities to open a second location closer to home. Jen Tabor, owner of the “Star Building” in downtown Niles, reached out to Thompson regarding the vacancy of 225 4th St., previously occupied by Off Main Street Salon.

“With it already being a salon before, that kind of helped and I think that that’s a lot of it,” she said. “It’s a great location. A lot of the things were already perfect and just needed some updating.”

While Thompson believes that her eyelash services will be successful in the Niles area, she also believes that the variety of services Beauty Bar 201 provides will be appealing to customers as well.

“I think with having all the services we do now, it makes it more like that one-stop shop,” she said. “I love that kind of atmosphere and I feel like I’ve taken the time with every customer and every single girl that we have that works for me to make sure everything is great.”

Thompson said her current clients as well as family and friends have reached out to express their excitement about the new Niles location.

“They’re super excited,” she said. “I’ve had lots of new clients even reach out saying they’re excited to see a new business coming to town and seeing all the new things that we do. Lashes aren’t very popular around here yet so I think that that’s going to be a big, big thing. With me being from Buchanan, a lot of people from Buchanan come this way. It’s easier for them to get here after work instead of going all the way to Granger.”

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Beauty Bar 201 by phone at (574) 313-1404 or online at beautybar.com.