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Esthetician Kathryn Boucher opened Belle Ame Lashes by Keke last month on historic Eagle Street.
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Kathryn Boucher her inspirations close by in her salon: her grandfather, who owned Norm's Barbershop in the same space, and her daughter, Kiera, pictured with her.

Salon Owner Opens in Grandfather's Old North Adams Barber Shop

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
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The salon's logo includes 'Lashes Like Kiera' in remembrance of Kiera Boucher. 
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Belle Ame Lashes by Keke recently celebrated its grand opening at 14 Eagle St.
 
Owner and esthetician Kathryn Boucher said her business will do face wax, eyebrows, and eyelash extensions.
 
Boucher formerly occupied a space in Pittsfield but now will solely be based in North Adams. It's also something of a coming home as 14 Eagle used to house her grandfather's business — Norm's Barber Shop.
 
After school, she'd walk down from Conte Middle School to the barbershop to get a lollipop — a tradition she plans to continue to commemorate him. 
 
"This is just where we would come visit. And he had this old brown desk right over there, and the bottom drawer was all always Dum-Dums lollipops. So that's what he was famous for, giving the kids the Dum-Dum lollipops," she said.
 
Boucher explained that her grandfather, T. Norman "Norm" Bleau, is one of the inspirations behind her business along with her daughter.
 
"My daughter was actually the one who introduced me to getting eyelashes done," she said. "She always got hers done when she did not need to, and talked me into getting mine done. And then after a while, it seemed like something I should look into, I would enjoy doing."
 
Boucher named her salon in part after her late daughter, Kiera "Keke" Boucher, with Keke a nickname she and her daughter shared. Boucher's signage includes the slogan "Lashes like Kiera," noting her daughter had great natural lashes. Kiera died earlier this year at age 26, but helped her mom pick out the colors and flooring of the space as well as giving input on  the furniture and decorations. 
 
Boucher received her cosmetology license through Mildred Elley around 2016. She trained under and was certified by Victoria Brassard in Pittsfield, who owns Lemon Lash Academy and FaceFrame Collective. Boucher had her Belle Ame Lashes by Keke in the Pittsfield studio.
 
Another barber shop, Klipper Kingz Barber Co., had operated out of the space since 2009.
 
She got the Eagle Street space in February and said her father and her three sons helped her transform into what it is now.
 
Boucher opened on May 7, when she was licensed to be there, and celebrated with a grand opening on May 31. She wants to collaborate with other local businesses to draw people downtown so offered the chance to win gift cards to them during the celebration.
 
Belle Ame Lashes by Keke is by appointment only for lash work, but may be available for walk-ins for face waxing. For more information to to make an appointment at 413-344-7777 or through the website

Tags: new business,   esthetician,   salon,   

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Main & Mill: A Vibrant New Restaurant on Main Street

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — You can now enjoy another eatery on Main Street by well-known restaurant siblings Colleen and Sean Taylor.

Their restaurant Main & Mill opened for the first time Tuesday, bringing their vision of creating something vibrant and new to downtown North Adams.

"We have created Main & Mill to be part of our day. It's very seasonal ingredients, thoughtful cooking, beauty, beautiful presentation and dishes. And we really wanted to be part of the community, the downtown area, and start a vibrant area on this end, which has been shuttered for a while," said Colleen.

The building is owned by Ginko on Main Street LLC, which has granted 20 years exclusive possession of the property to Latent Builds as the developer. Jack and Suzy Wadsworth, behind Ginko, are development partners with Karla Rothstein and Salvatore Perry of Latent.

The bank closed in early 2021 and was purchased by Ginko late that year. Plans for the property unveiled three years ago envisioned a restaurant, retail, a park and rooftop bar. 

Colleen saw potential and said she initially wanted the building when it first went up for sale. Being good friends with Rothstein and Perry, she helped them design the kitchen and the bar before learning in March that she could lease it as a restaurant space, something she told them would be a great idea.

She said one of the most important things about the restaurant was the collaboration between Rothstein, Perry, and the Wadsworths, who put a lot of time and energy into the building.

"If Sean and I had done it, we would not be able to do what the collaboration supported. The collaboration of the three of us being able to really have that kind of money to put in down here. The design that the architecture firm that Carla and Sal own is stunning," she said. "The time and effort, everyone came together to do this in a really trusting manner."

The two wanted the restaurant to be an all-day venture, so people could eat at any point throughout the day, all week long.

"We wanted it to be open for coffee and socialization in the morning where people can meet, have their cup of coffee, have a quiche, a vegetarian quiche, or croissant or yogurt. Something intentional with their coffee," she said. "Then move into a lunchtime for the downtown business or anybody, and then go into supper, dinner, with drinks later into the evening. So have it really be open all day long, so that there wasn't a void on any particular day."

They also wanted to do something different than the other restaurants they owned.

"We didn't want to mimic any other restaurant in town. We wanted to bring something that was inspiring, something that had some familiar things that people would see, and other things that we would bring to them for them to experience," she said.

As a woman business owner, Colleen said she wanted to bring a female chef into the kitchen. 

Colleen brought on Chef Anna DeRose, who she said puts twists on a lot of her dishes.

"So we have a creme brulee, but our creme brulee is topped with marshmallow," she said. "Our creme brulee is like almost two desserts in one. It's a s'mores creme brulee. So you could have a s'mores, and you could have a creme brulee - but when you put both of them together, fireworks go off."

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