The owners of a business incubator dedicated to helping beauty stylists and barbers jump-start their own businesses in Arlington are recovering after a devastating fire.
“It happened so fast, I really couldn’t believe what I was witnessing,” said Tamara Starks.
Last Thursday, Starks drove to her businesses along W. Arkansas Lane in Arlington only to find a stylist running out of the burning building.
By the time the fire was out, Treasure Chest Beauty Studio and Captain’s Lodge Barber Studio as well as the Starks’ financial consulting office were all but destroyed.
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“We’re just glad nobody actually got hurt,” said Rickey Starks.
The loss has not only threatened the livelihood of the studios’ stylists, nail techs, and barbers, but it is threatening the future of a decade-long mission helping young entrepreneurs.
“I feel like I’ve lost everything,” she said. “Years of memories, years of people we’ve developed here at this business and they went on to their own -- like, it’s just so many memories.”
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Starks said the fire department informed her it appeared to be an electrical fire. The Arlington Fire Department was unable to respond to inquiries about the fire because of the city holiday on Monday.
The business incubator provides mentorship and development assistance to stylists and barbers, most go on to open their own shops.
It is also where the husband-and-wife hosted empowerment meetings helping working mothers become financially successful.
It is now the Starks trying to rebuild.
They’ve created a GoFundMe hoping for a helping hand, click here for more information.
“It’s hard for people to ask for help but we need the community to come together so we can rebuild and re-establish what we had,” she said.
