Velvet & Vine Salon Adds Second Pittsburgh Location After Waitlist Grows to Months

Velvet & Vine, a Shadyside hair salon known for its color correction work, is opening a second Pittsburgh location in Lawrenceville after new client bookings at the original shop stretched to a four-month waitlist.

Owner Renata Cho said she resisted expanding for years, worried about diluting the quality control that built the salon's reputation. "I turned down two franchise offers because I didn't want a location I couldn't personally train," Cho said. "This is different. It's still just us."

The new location will be led by a stylist who has worked under Cho for six years, a succession plan Cho says was more important to her than the real estate itself. Both locations will share a single appointment system and product inventory to keep pricing and service standards consistent.

Cho attributes the waitlist partly to a broader shift toward color correction and grow-out services, as more clients space out salon visits but want longer-lasting results per appointment. The Lawrenceville location is expected to open with six chairs, roughly double the original shop's capacity.