SALT LAKE CITY — Bauhaus Salon was David Holland’s seventh attempt at opening his own salon.
“This place was beautiful at one point. It really has been my pride and joy," said the Hawai'i native who has been a full-time stylist in Salt Lake City since 1995.
But on Sunday, fire crews were called to the salon after reports of a structure fire that started in the attic. Watching all those years of hard work burn Sunday, Holland was heartbroken.
“I don't want to give up on my dream," he said. "I already put so much work into it. Most people in their lifetime they get, like, one opportunity, or they take one opportunity to accomplish like their dream and creating that for themselves. Apparently, I get to do it twice.”
The cause of the fire is still unknown.
“I think there's some inherent chemicals and dyes and things like that that are used in hair products," said Capt. Shaun Mumedy with the Salt Lake City Fire Department. "So, it's not out of the realm of possibilities. It's certainly not something that we would think couldn't happen. But yeah, it's kind of odd for the avenues because a lot of those are smaller businesses up in there.”
Even after the fire, Holland is more concerned about his employees than the the building that was burned down.
“All of the stuff that I have in here is just that, it's just stuff," he said. "But I was just most concerned about my team. And what are they going to do in losing all of their equipment and stuff? They've also gone through the COVID and being shut down, they have families, and just wondering, what, honestly, what are they going to do?”
In the three days since the fire, Holland said an overwhelming number of clients, neighbors and other business owners have reached out.
“I had no idea that we were loved as much as we are," he said. "I think that is literally like what has kept me going the last few days."
Holland doesn’t want this to be the end of Bauhaus, so he's started a GoFundMe page to help cover the cost of restoring the burned salon.
