Noah Johnson Daily Press
Owner Kylie Kalishek cuts the ribbon as she unveils expansions at her storefront.
ESCANABA – A local business held a ribbon cutting for their expanded line of services.
Blading Boutique Microblading hosted its grand re-opening with a celebratory ribbon cutting courtesy of the Delta County Chamber of Commerce.
“We are celebrating the re-grand opening of Blading Boutique,” Owner Kylie Kalishek said.
Patrons might notice a few changes to the store as it has expanded services.
“It is now a microblading studio, historic aviation gallery and a small business emporium.”
She said she had the extra space and wanted to support her friends.
“All of my friends are entrepreneurs and dreamers, and I just really wanted to do something to give back to the community and support as many small businesses and local vendors as possible,” Kalishek said.
The storefront now features 20 local vendors selling jewelry, copper art, and more.
“It has become as eclectic as I am,” Kalishek joked.
She said her friends may not have enough product to launch an entire store, but she had the room and wanted to help.
“A lot of them don’t have enough product to fill an entire storefront, but I have a large storefront that I can lend them a little space to get their name out there,” Kalishek said.
The historic aviation gallery features members of Kalishek’s family, including footage from nearly 100 years ago.
“My grandpa and his four sisters were early pioneers in aviation. They were flying before Amelia Earhart (and) they were wing walkers in the flying circus,” she said.
Not only are they Kalishek’s family, but they’re also local to Delta County.
“They used to hang off planes by their teeth, and they did all this crazy stuff, and they were from Delta County,” she said.
While shopping at the emporium or waiting for a microblading appointment, guests get a look back in time to the 1920s.
“This is local history that’s really been forgotten, and I have new wing-walking footage of them (her family) that I play at the store from 1920’s. It’s just pretty cool to preserve that history,” she said.
The microblading portion of the business is also expanding, aiming to help people.
“I’m officially the only microblading artist in the UP to be working with the Sauler Institute, and they are getting funding for women who’ve had breast cancer to have the restoration done on their eyebrows through me,” she said.
To learn more about the boutique, visit www.bladingboutique.com.
If you are looking for more information on qualifying for free microblading due to breast cancer, contact Carla at info@saulerinsitute.com
The Blading Boutique, small business emporium and aviation gallery are at 1107 Ludington Street in Escanaba.