Jul. 18—TUPELO — Sarah Busby was ready to have her own business, and she found the franchise that fit exactly what she was looking as both an entrepreneur and a customer.
Busby is now a franchisee for L.A. Bikini, a hair removal boutique that uses a sugar paste instead of wax. Located in Barnes Crossing Plaza at 4340 Mall Drive next to Beales Outlet and in the former Oreck Vacuum location, it is set to open July 30.
Busby's work experience led her to pursue opening the franchise.
After several years in business sales for Verizon and leasing for two malls — The Mall at Barnes Crossing in Tupelo and a mall in Mobile, Alabama — Busby did a lot of traveling and met many small business owners.
"I really enjoyed working with them and saw myself opening my own business one day," she said.
She and her husband explored countless franchises but couldn't find one.
"Nothing really quite fit," she said. "But traveling to Mobile, I discovered an L.A. Bikini and became a customer. I had no idea it was a franchise, but I love the feel of the business, the products, the people ... I love my experience there."
But it took a little longer to launch her business plan.
The COVID pandemic ensued, and Busby wasn't able to travel to her second home (Mobile) for the L.A. Bikini treatments, so she started looking for a similar experience locally. To her disappointment, she couldn't find one nearby, forcing her to travel to Birmingham, Memphis or Jackson for treatments.
When she discovered she could be a franchise owner for L.A. Bikini, Busby jumped at the opportunity.
"I signed our franchise agreement in March 2022," she said. "It's been a long road to get here, but we can see the finish line."
As for the L.A. Bikini method of hair removal, there are some differences, and they all have to do with the client's comfort.
"It's similar to traditional wax, but differences are that the sugar paste goes on the skin at room temperature instead of hot," Busby said. "It doesn't adhere to the skin, so it's not going to remove the top layer of skin; and then it removes hair in the direction of hair growth instead of against, so there's lessening of the chance of in-grown hairs and rashes after the treatment."
The sugar paste is all natural, composed of sugar, water and lemon juice.
The L.A. Bikini in Tupelo will initially employ two full-time "sugarists" and another part-time sugarist, a part-time front desk employee, and of course, Busby as owner/manager.