By Allison Perrine | aperrine@tworivertimes.com
RED BANK – New York style, Red Bank convenience. That’s what stylists at the Yanni Erbeli Wisteria salon aim to bring to the Two River area.
The elegant two-story parlor sits on Broad Street in the heart of Red Bank. Customers can make appointments for quality hair and beauty services from specialty stylists, most hailing from New York City. The salon was founded by Brooklyn native Yanni Erbeli. Knowing he wanted to work with the “best of the best,” he started his career as a stylist in New York at the age of 17. There he styled celebrities’ hair and developed a love for quality products and luxurious services.
“I came from literally nothing. I started working in the city, started to experience what quality was,” said Erbeli. As his appreciation for it grew, he knew that’s what he wanted for his customers one day.
Erbeli’s Albanian background prompted him to work hard to achieve great things at a young age, as family is important and he knew he would want to start one of his own soon enough. A few years later, he moved to New Jersey and fell in love with the suburbs. He started working at a friend’s salon and found great success. However, he noticed a need for specialty salons in New Jersey that focus on certain parts of hair and styling. He decided to take a leap with his following and open up his own salon in Red Bank. The rest is history.
“The world of color is so immense and the world of styling is so immense,” he said. “You specialize, you focus, you’re just going to be better and better.”
His first salon opened six years ago, a few storefronts away from where his business is now. As his following grew and his lease expired, he made the jump to 67 Broad St. Now, guests are greeted by grey, black and white tones and a windowfront on the exterior of the building. There’s a perfume collection to the left of the entry and a sunglass collection to the right. That’s because Erbeli started working with mother and daughter Rosemary Panicali and Alexis Trotta, owners of Wisteria, a boutique and beauty lounge.
Reclined leather chairs at a hair washing station and four black leather styling chairs are on the first floor, along with an airbrush organic tanning room. At the back, there’s a door that leads to an outdoor patio where customers can sit and enjoy some coffee or tea and relax.
The second floor of the salon is more private. There are a few more chairs for hair styling and it’s where customers have their hair dyed, taking advantage of the additional privacy when their head is covered in foil during color treatments. A room for facials and a manicure station are also upstairs, though manicures are not yet offered. Once Erbeli finds the right person to do it, they will offer it, he said.
Yanni Erbeli Wisteria offers blowouts, styling, hair extensions, color and treatments, keratin treatments, bridal packages, massages, facials, collagen induction therapy, hydrafacials, waxing, extensions, makeup services, airbrush organic tanning and other salon and spa packages.
One of the most important things to Erbeli is to focus on specialties in the business to stand out from the rest and be the best of the best in a certain area of the field. That’s why Erbeli focuses on hair extensions, cuts and colors. His goal is to rid the stereotype associated with extensions down to a person’s waist. Instead, extensions can be used to add fullness to your hair, at different lengths.
“My ideal goal is to give you low maintenance but high style,” he said, as well as little tips and tricks for customers to take home with them. He wants his customers to be able to use some of their salon tricks in everyday life so that their hair doesn’t just look fabulous after their appointments, but all the time.
The article originally appeared in the February 27- March 4, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
