Studio MZ Salon and Spa | Tracy Zwick Hammer and Sue Bell | Local Women Local Business

Unbeknown to one another as children or even as teenagers, Tracy Zwick Hammer and Sue Bell teased and styled the hair of Barbie dolls.

Half-a-century later, the women are owners of Studio MZ Salon and Spa in Woodmere, which opened three decades ago.

Named for the first letter in the last name of each woman – Bell has not married and was then known as Sue Mate – Studio MZ Salon and Spa opened in December 1993.

“I used to cut the hair on my Barbie dolls,” said Zwick, a graduate of Orange High School in Pepper Pike who attended the University of Florida to study psychology where she offered to cut the locks of students on the Gainesville campus for $5 each.

But Zwick Hammer returned to Northeast Ohio and to her love for working as a hair stylist and helping people look their best through a variety of personal services, she said.

Likewise, Bell, a graduate of Bedford High School who as a child had a full-scale Barbie mannequin, studied calculus and played in the high school orchestra, but she gravitated toward cosmetology.

Her high school adviser set up an interview at the Locksmith on Chagrin Boulevard and this began Bell’s career in the salon industry and her eventual business partnership with Zwick.

Today, Studio MZ Salon and Spa employs 45 people in all, including stylists and support staff, providing clients with haircuts, styling, hair extensions, pedicures, manicures, and other services.

As young adults in their 20s, Zwick Hammer and Bell met as hair stylists at Scott Fisher Salon in the early 1990s.

When the women heard the owner intended to sell the studio, Zwick Hammer suggested they purchase it and go into business for themselves.

“I asked Sue if she’d go in (business) with me,” Zwick Hammer said.

But the endeavor was briefly sidetracked when the owner opted not to sell.

The studio still closed within a year, according to Zwick Hammer, but in the meanwhile she and Bell scouted another site and continued to pursue their dream.

“We wanted to find a little place with a window on Chagrin Boulevard,” Zwick Hammer said. They remain in that original location since they opened in 1993.

Zwick Hammer and Bell found a storefront in Woodmere.

Zwick Hammer describes the studio as “high end” and a place where clients can enjoy a “calm and stress-free” environment.

Studio MZ Salon & Spa at 27629 Chagrin Boulevard is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday.

Zwick Hammer, 60, resides with her husband, Jerry, in Orange Bell, 64, and her husband, Vaughn, live in Bainbridge Township.

Kevin Corvo is a freelance journalist.