2002-2011 HISTORY
The Future
The Future will be bright, the people who work with Salon Palomo today will likely be the future location managers of tomorrow. The sky is truly the limit, and we plan on increasing geometrically well into the far future.
When people walk up to Salon Palomo they are often amazed by the large Paul Mitchell Window Dressings, majestic fountains, and when they enter the salon itself they are often breathless at its brilliant design. Chandelier ceilings, stone floors, hand carved furnishings and all the modern conveniences that one would expect from a high-end salon and spa.
Strangely, the price-point is well below the standard which is set far above most anything found outside of Houston. After a few visits most clients are only disappointed that they did not discover the salon sooner.
If you are looking for the ultimate location for your hair, nails, skin, waxing, and makeup then you need to come to Salon Palomo, the most highly rated and well-respected salon in South Texas. Your appearance is an important part of your life, leaving it too chance is entirely too risky.
Call Salon Palomo at 361-855-8841, or visit them at Wind chase Plaza, at 2033 Airline Road G7, Corpus Christi, Texas. Salonpalomo.com has hundreds of examples of their work, both with videos and stills, and you can read and enjoy their magazine, and newspaper articles, and numerous international and local awards and accolades.
2012
In February 2012 Salon Palomo began doing celebrity hair officially through negotiations with the major entertainment venues in town. John Leguizamo a well-known red-carpet celebrity was the very first client for this private and exclusive service.
2011 (The largest salon in Corpus Christi, and 5 Years of Winning Awards)
January, 2011, Salon Palomo added state of the art 'Anti-Aging' systems and Laser Hair Rejuvenation (Hair growth enhancers) that are regarded as nothing short of miraculous in both outcome, and price-point, and that firmly fits it with their approach of offering LA Style Services, at South Texas Prices.
In 2011, We have the largest Salon Website in the entire world, which receives more visitors than any other business website in Nueces County, Texas. Salon Palomo receives daily E-mails from all over the world praising our videos, articles, and pictures.
Salon Palomo promotes a large number of actors, comedians, and musicians who bring Salon Palomo beauty to all corners of the world.
We are currently creating our own radio contests and events around the city of Corpus Christi instead of merely participating, and we were the Center Stage Sponsor for the 2011 Women's Expo, the largest women's fair in Corpus Christi.
Our team is the best team we have ever worked with, and the positive attitudes that these young trendy stylists exhibit is infectious. More importantly, Salon Palomo has flourished in one of the worst economies in history, and we attribute that to superior quality, reasonable price-point, and a commitment to quality. We have had feature articles in every magazine and trade paper in the local industry.
THE BIG EXPANSION
In May 2011 Salon Palomo underwent the largest expansion since its move from the humble beginnings prior to Windchase Plaza. The expansion allowed Salon Palomo to add massage services, and a full-services nail salon, and a greatly expanded waiting area, and makeup room, and last but not least, a shower facility. Salon Palomo is officially the largest salon in Corpus Christi nearly a decade after its inception.
3RD COAST DIVAS
No longer content to keep what we do within the boundaries of Corpus Christi, Texas, we allowed a reality show producer, along with many crew members from the 'Jersey Shore' to begin pre-production on a reality show based on Maria, and her team of top beauty professionals. The pilot episode will be completed before 2012, and then the process of finding the appropriate network, and corporate sponsors.
2010 (4 Years of Winning Awards)
In 2010, Salon Palomo won four more Best of the Best Awards giving it a four-year winning streak that only validates the claim of being the salon leader of Corpus Christi, Texas. Further, towards the end of 2010 Salon Palomo also became featured on the Fox Television Show, "What a Bride Wants", which we believe will be a runaway success, and we were featured in 'M' Magazine as the hottest salon in Corpus Christi, which is quite an honor considering M Magazine caters to the most affluent readers in Corpus Christi. Moreover, in 2011, Salon Palomo was the lead salon in the largest Fashion Show in Corpus Christi's History on January 23rd, 2011 at the American Bank Center, and was also featured in NSIDE Magazine with in-depth interviews about the salon's future, and plans for a reality show.
Megan Palomo (daughter of Maria Del Rio) has joined the team full-time to help her Mother achieve her goals and help lead Salon Palomo into greater success in the new millennium.
In the period from 2002 to 2010 (just eight years) Salon Palomo has grown from a one woman operation to Salon Palomo, the Premier Paul Mitchell Salon that is regarded as one of the best salons in all of South Texas.
2009 (The expansion and Paul Mitchell, Airline Location)
A few years later the salon became too small again for an ever-growing staff and a burgeoning clientele Salon Palomo was faced with either the choice to move again, or create a larger space within the present location. After great deliberation the decision was made to expand, and that decision was made again two more times thereafter, until the salon swelled to over 3,500 sq feet making it one of the largest and most luxurious salons in the Nueces County.
With the increased capacity Maria Del Rio began to train an even larger staff which eventually grew to over twenty managers, receptionists, stylists, nail artists, and makeup professionals. Salon Palomo was no longer just a little salon for people who sought perfection; instead it became a big salon, with a big team for many who seek perfection.
The final metamorphosis occurred when Salon Palomo decided to become a Paul Mitchell Focus Salon which brought Hollywood’s top stylists into their salon for training, and the cutting edge developments and innovation. Paul Mitchell is currently the largest and most well-respected name in the salon industry, and being in league with the industries number one corporation could only be a win-win situation. Moreover, having our staff training at the world famous Paul Mitchell Academy learning techniques that other salons couldn’t even duplicate, let alone comprehend give Salon Palomo advantages that are almost seem unfair.
2008 (The first team, Airline Location)
Maria Del Rio began training stylists, and nail technicians to do things ‘her way’, and the results were downright astounding. Her team has had quite a few shakeups from those who could not endure Maria’s personal rendition of 'Tabitha' on Salon Makeover, but for those who stayed the course, they became better than any other stylists that have ever been previously been affiliated with the salon, and their reputation has grown in a manner quite similar to what Maria has achieved in her earlier years.
Eventually the newspaper, and magazines around town began to write glowing articles about the salon, and local celebrities and even world renowned musicians and actors would get treated to Maria’s signature style, and enjoyed her southern hospitality and of course watching her and her team shape, style and mold looks that seemed to previously only exist in magazine spreads with professional models, and high-end photography. Somehow Salon Palomo was able to create the highest level of results without visual enhancement, and with a very wide-array of clients.
2006-2007 (The new location, booth rental, independent stylists)
In February 2006, Salon Palomo relocated to Windchase Plaza a modest shopping center at the intersection of Airline and Holly, and something closer to Maria’s vision of a salon became to form, and develop. Initially, they leased spots within the salon to independent stylist who did not receive Maria’s signature training, and the results were painfully similar to what occurred in the previous incarnation.
Maria and her small support staff were constantly busy and it became clear that Salon Palomo needed to become a team effort, and the independent stylists needed to move on. Although some of them were decent and thoughtful renters, while others were quite something else, it really become more of an issue of control since Maria Del Rio was forming a blueprint for what would become the most successful salon in Corpus Christi.
Some of these independents remain in ownership positions today, while others have returned to renting space. We wish them all the best luck, and feel simply glad they stepped aside to allow us to more quickly move forward in our own ambitions.
2002-2004 (The Wooldridge Location Years)
Maria Del Rio (Formally known as Maria Palomo) had 16 Years of Experience as a top-stylist, and salon owner in Abilene, Texas, her popular salon in West Texas was known as Salon Silhouette and it remains in business 10 years after she sold it in order to move with her ex-husband and family to Corpus Christi for a his job-transfer.
She initially applied at Dolce Divino, Franciscos, Anthonys, and even Class Act, but they obviously sensed that she was to experienced and knowledgable to be content as some sort of staff member, but anxious to start in the Nueces County Area, she initially worked out of her house, and even rented a space as Hair Odyssey at the now leveled Parkdale Plaza.
Maria was not content to work in anyone else's salon, or attempt to bring her innovations and creativity to any of the established salons in Corpus Christi; therefore, the only choices was to journey on her own.
In February 2002, Maria Del Rio (formally known as Maria Palomo) started her first salon in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was rather small in comparison to her current surroundings, at a mere 800 sq feet. The previous landlord would not allow any sort of customization or signage so the first incarnation of Salon Palomo was somewhat stifled by a lack of exposure. Initially, the focus of the salon was essentially Maria Del Rio and her amazing hair cutting and color work.
A constant parade of other stylists came and went, but was unable to build any sort of clientele due to the overwhelming reputation Maria was forging in the Corpus Christi community as the most talented hair stylist in the area, perhaps South Texas. Her client list was growing geometrically and the salon although just basically a one-woman-show was more successful than many salons that were more established, and in more prominent locations.
Within a few months the success became overwhelming, and a receptionist was added to help avoid the stress of trying to handle the clerical while providing avant-garde hair designs. The next step was creating databases and more sophisticated client records and before long the salon began to move in a direction towards future growth, and expansion. The limitations of the first location became to destructive, not to mention unfounded issues with the landlord and other factors to numerous to list, and it became imperative to scout for a larger, and more flexible environment to host the next Salon Palomo, and many locations were considered.
In February of 2006 Salon Palomo left the Wooldridge Location Years, and became free to pursue its vision of a professional salon, untethered and unrestricte