Step away from Auburn’s noisy, busy East Main Street into Tribeca Professional Salon, and you’re in another world
A softly lit world warm as a towel fetched from the dryer, mellow as a Nora Jones’ tune, framed by images of a dozen New York City skylines.
Deeper inside it’s a 1,700-square-foot, full facility for spa work with four treatment rooms. In the couples massage room, couples may also enjoy two of any spa service, including facials. Others salons typically outsource such services to hotels in Tacoma, Bellevue and Seattle.
And there’s a selection of a retail and boutique items to support local artists.
“The spa industry is obviously one of our oldest healing modalities,” said owner Amy Dais. “I like to be a part of peoples’ lives, to have a place where they can come when they need healing, to offer a place they can come to when they want to create memories with friends and family and go someplace that’s fun and modern. I really like being a part of people’s memories.”
Auburn’s newest business celebrated its grand opening last Thursday at 510 E. Main St., between South E South F streets.
Tribeca represents something else new to Main Street — it’s the first native-American-owned business on the street.
“I’m from Seattle,” said owner Amy Dais. “We’re Muckleshoot Tribal members. We are very excited to be in Auburn. I have six children. We moved down here so we could participate in the tribal activities and raise our children in the culture. I went through the tribal education department and did two years of business studies. I hold three professional licenses for spa work.
“… Most of our native artists are independent, they do pow-pow work, they do tables at crafts and bazaars, and so they are more independent. But as a tribal member, I’ve been able to take my education with business studies and figure out how do I really go out there and create a business and come down here into downtown Auburn and build bridges and be part of the city as a tribal member. It’s been about 10 years in the making to really come to a point where I could find a building like this and create a vision not only of the way that I wanted to run a spa but also to stay in Auburn, where I wouldn’t have to commute.”
Private parties may rent the venue.
“If people want to celebrate sweet 16s and birthdays, milestone birthdays, bachelorettes, bridal showers, that kind of thing, they may book it privately for two to three hours. Usually that will be on a Sunday, which is our closed day. That way they can have the facility without the public guests. Guests would be in spa robes. It’s a little more relaxed, more private, and they can enjoy their company without feeling that they are running into a stranger. It’s a fun thing to do. It’s really popular among large venues,” Dais said.
It’s no coincidence that the salon took its name from a certain neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, famed as a nest of creative and artistic talent.
“I’m a fan of New York,” Dais explained. “And I told my mom if I couldn’t live in New York, I’d bring it here. I adore the city. This neighborhood is artsy, and it represents what I want to do. SOHO South is coming. She’s in the works. We’re gonna go all the way.”
