Amber Wilson, owner of Bronze & Polish, the new salon at 218 Main Street in Darlington, couldn’t be happier with the way things have been going since the grand opening of her salon on Labor Day.
    “It’s been going very well,” said Wilson. “I’ve been getting such awesome feedback, which is great since I didn’t have any clients at all to begin with.”
    Wilson moved to Darlington three years ago with her husband and Darlington native Matt Wilson, and their two daughters, aged nine and five. Until recently she was working at the Darlington schools as an aid.
    However, Wilson, who is originally from the east coast, said before she moved to Darlington she worked at a salon alongside her mother and basically grew up in that environment.
“I guess I wanted some place my kids could come and where people could bring their kids with them if they needed,” explained Wilson. “I want it to be warm and cozy.”
    “I love an adventure,” she said of opening Bronze & Polish, “and when the space opened up I just jumped on it.”
    Bronze & Polish currently offers tanning, nails and waxing and eventually Wilson hopes to expand into a full service salon. “I just have to take the test and get a license for that,” she explained. But she hopes to get to that point by the first of the year, which is only a few months away.
    Right now Wilson works alone at Bronze & Polish, but thinks that eventually she will hire more people when she expands into a full salon.
    “For now, I kind of like the smallness of it,” she said. “Eventually I want to get another tanning bed because I’m so busy,” Wilson added with a laugh. “But for right now baby steps are the plan.”
    The transition and build up of Bronze & Polish has been pretty smooth as the building also formerly housed a salon, so the plumping and atmosphere was already set up. “I didn’t change all that much, because it was already beautiful,” explained Wilson.
    She also loves having a storefront on Main Street. “I’ve always loved Darlington’s Main Street, ever since the first time I came here when Matt brought me to town for Canoe Fest one year.”
    “It’s great to be here and be so easily accessible to anyone,” she added.
    So far Wilson said that she has been doing a lot of pedicures and has actually had a lot of first timers come in as well. “And that’s a lot of fun,” she explained. “It’s always cool to get to spoil and pamper them a little.”
    Wilson said she has been amazed at the amount of people that have been coming in so far. “It’s just exceeded my expectations tremendously,” she said. “It’s been amazing.”
    “I have to love what I do and if I make money doing it, that’s just a bonus,” said Wilson. “I’m so lucky I can do that,” she added with a smile. 
    Bronze & Polish is open Tuesdays through Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., on Fridays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
    In celebration of the shop’s opening Wilson is offering a four month special on unlimited tanning from September through December for $100 and during the month of September offered 20% off of nail and waxing services and 10% off retail items.
    Wilson also plans to eventually get monthly specials going, which will be posted on Bronze & Polish’s facebook page at www.facebook.com/bronzeandpolishdarlingtonwi.
    Bronze & Polish offers a variety of nail care, waxing and tanning services and packages. Examples of nail care offered for her include: a natural nail manicure for $15, 30-minute mini pedicures for $20 and spa pedicures-60 minutes for $30.
    All of the services and prices can be found on a price sheet, available at Bronze & Polish or by calling 776-2201.