High-end Arboretum Salon 505 closes

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Employees say the high-end Arboretum Salon 505 closed its doors Saturday after business hours. Many employees are now wondering why.

Former 14- year Salon 505 employee Joe Jordan is positive he'll find another head stylist position. He's got contacts and a good client list. He's not positive about how he was surprisingly fired Saturday night.

"I was finishing up my last client she [owner] called me up to the office and said, 'I'm closing the doors'," said Jordan. "She goes get your stuff and you can go."

Jordan says salon founder and president Sharon Baldeschwiler gave no notice and no warning before Saturday that she was closing the popular salon.

"All the other people, she just let them go out and leave all their stuff there and they haven't got their equipment, so they're screwed," said Jordan. "That's how they work; scissors, comb, blow dryer. If you haven't got that, you can't work and it's expensive to go out and replace all that stuff just like that."

Sunday a few employees waited in front of the building hoping to get in to get their tools and cosmetology licenses. Salon 505 is open on Sundays from 12-6 but the doors were locked with no one inside.  Simon Property security says they can't open the doors without permission from property management. KXAN placed a call to the management office and was told calls would be returned on Monday when the office opens.

For now, what employees and those with appointments will see is a busted glass door and two signs taped to the inside of the doors that read, 'Thank you Austin for 34 years of business, Salon 505 .' A hand-written message on the outside reads, 'I want my stuff...Open these doors thieves (thieves).'

Employees say they don't have their tools, a last paycheck and a reason why. Joe Jordan believes Salon 505 has steadily lost clientele and revenue over the years but says a  Living Social coupon may have been its final demise.

"That basically finished her up. I knew that was going to finish it," said Jordan.

In a special Better Business Bureau investigation, KXAN reported a Living Social coupon was overwhelming popular. It offered spa services for $99. Without  the coupon, a full day of beauty including 1-hour massage, facial, manicure\pedicure, deep conditioning and blow dry would retail for about $500. 5,000 coupons were sold in less than a day drawing a host of complaints. Salon 505's voicemail greeting says they are booked into 2012 for the Living Social voucher.

"If you do the math, there's no way," said Jordan. "She said that she could get that within eight months, and I said 'Sharon, it's going to take two to three years to get that lot cleared off."

Baldeschwiler would not comment on camera for that story but issued a statement saying, "The Salon 505 staff and myself have been working very hard to handle the overwhelming number of calls, appointments, and services. I will do everything I can to insure all the good Austin people who wanted this deal are taken care of."

Jordan says many of those coupons have been refunded. Sunday, Living Social representative, Sean Lashley said, "We will do everything we can to make sure each of our customers are taken care of. We will definitely work on solution, although right now we don't know what that solution is until we talk to merchant services Monday morning. Living Social customers should hang on to their vouchers and once there is a solution, customers will be notified in their Living Social account queue."  Lashley says, this is not the first time they've had a problem with Salon 505 coupons. They said the business temporarily shut down back in February. At that time Living Social extended the expiration date of the coupons.

Sunday, employees say they haven't been able to reach owner Sharon Baldeschwiler. KXAN placed a call to a residence listing Baldeschwiler as the owner. Calls were not returned.

Employees are now hoping they can get into the salon Monday morning to get their belongings.