Maya McFadden Photo
Delayed but undeterred by Covid-19, Rahkiya Davis, owner of Koloùr Beauty Boutique, is bringing a one-stop-shop to Newhallville with a Southern touch.
She’s putting the finishing touches on a new business at 121 Shelton Ave. where she envisions eventually selling clothing and beauty products, holding art classes for kids, doing nails, and hosting a hair salon for women, men, and kids.
When you enter Koloùr Beauty Boutique, you are welcomed with a pink and purple theme and multiple different areas to visit. Davis has been developing her vision for her business for the past year and began building it in March.
To start, Davis will hire three hair technicians in the shop.
The shop’s name “Kolour” is meant to highlight the business being black-owned. “It’s like people color but with a K to help make it different,” she said.
Davis, who is 29 years old, went to Eli Whitney Technical High School to learn cosmetology, art, and entrepreneurship. She also was a fashion student at Lincoln College of New England.
Courtesy of Rahkiya Davis
Last summer, Davis made the decision to become a business owner. Before this, Davis was considering returning to her family’s home in Myrtle Beach, S.C., or heading to California to get a shop.
For a year, Davis collected decorations and equipment for the shop and stored them in her Shelton Avenue home down the street from the shop. “It was ridiculous; my living room was packed. I had mirrors, mannequins, chairs, racks of clothes, all of it just taking over my house,” she said.
Before she moved her stuff into the shop, a friend told her: “I never knew anyone who had the store before they actually had the store.”
The building at 121 Shelton was formerly home to a barbershop. Before its closure, Davis was considering renting out a small space in the barbershop to sell clothes.
After the barbershop closed, Davis reached out to the building owners in January. After learning that she did not yet have enough money to rent the space, she worked out a deal with the owners to hold the building. Davis worked three jobs at Inspirational Care LLC, Amazon, and Yale, and returned to the owners in March to get the space.
“I invested everything I had,” she said.
Next Davis found a contractor she could afford to begin making the shop look as she envisioned. Then Covid hit New Haven. Due to the contractor’s age, Davis said, he decided to opt out of the job for his own safety.
Davis then found Jody Hoskie, who offered his contracting services but was out of her price range. After a month Hoskie and Davis came to a payment agreement that only covered Hoskie rather than an entire team. The pair then got to work putting together Davis’ vision.
On July 5 Davis hosted a grand opening gathering for the shop. Davis had a DJ, food, covid testing, a raffle, and some clothing items for sale.
Davis is currently working with Hoskie on the shop’s final touches to officially open. She is also finalizing contracts for salon employees.
Davis is considering building on to the shop to add a nail salon area to complete the one-stop-shop. Davis’ contractor would have to build an additional wall near the back door entrance for the nail tech to come through the back entrance to a blocked off nail corner to avoid exposing the entire shop to the nail product smells.
In the shop’s back area, Davis hopes to turn a small room into an entrepreneurship classroom. Davis hopes to paint the walls with chalkboard paint to offer New Haven youth lessons in things like art and sewing.
“The goal is to get them in this store showing off their talents as an entrepreneur,” Davis said.
After art lessons, Davis hopes to display young artists’ work in the dedicated mini-museum area of the shop. Davis said she hopes to promote others’ talents in the shop by providing them a place to sell their work. Davis will also allow local clothing lines to sell their clothes in the shop.
In the back right corner, Davis plans to sell her own and others’ handmade custom clothing items.
Davis’s family is from South Carolina. Her shop’s motto is “where city meets South.”
Davis said she invested in a business of her own in part to inspire her 6‑year-old son Camdyn Wright (pictured above). Camdyn often spends the day in the shop with Davis as she puts it together. “It’s all about exposing him to success. Seeing me chase my dreams will help his future be brighter,” she said. Davis hopes to send Camdyn to Eli Whitney Technical High School to seek out a variety of programs and skills.
Davis has been looking for employees since her grand opening though has had some trouble as many fear returning back to work amidst the pandemic. She has also had difficulty ordering materials for the shop from international businesses due to Covid.
Davis is currently working on putting together a wall of thanks at the shop’s entrance to give appreciation to all of those that helped her. “I’m only where I’m at now because of the community around me,” she said. “I wouldn’t be here without New Haven’s talent.”
Congrats and good luck!