Comanche-Owned Salon Opens for Business

On Monday, August 12, Comanche-owned business Wild Spirit Salon and Boutique held a ribbon-cutting in Lawton, Okla.

Lawton Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce, friends and family gathered for the grand opening of the full-service family salon.

Owner Martha Negron said it felt good to finish the project.

“It's awesome, wonderful…working out all the kinks before we're officially open. It feels really good,” she said.

Negron said it took a lot to open the salon.

“We're just really blessed that God actually provided this for us,” she said. “As soon as we seen the space available, I called; I knew because we took a couple months trying to find a location that would be in our budget, that was going to be big enough, that was worth it. And when we got this, we just knew it was right here.”

Negron said she had a lot of support from her family and church members. The murals outside of the building were donated by the Wichita and Affiliated Tribe’s 988 program.

“I had a soft opening for my friends and family a few months back just to try to, you know, get it going,” she said. “And my friends and family and church members, they brought all kinds of plants. All the plants that are in the store are what they brought. They named, everybody that bought their plant, they named their own plant.So, if you see the plants and they have names on them, that was from the person that gifted me the plant. I had several people help me move in, clients, my brothers, you know, because we don't have a truck, so just moving in here.”

Negron said Comanche Nation partnered with the Kiowa and Wichita Affiliated Tribes for an entrepreneurial program.

“And it was like three days that they did it. One day was at the tribe; one day was in Carnegie; another day was in Anadarko,” she said. “And all those three days, we partnered up with a lot of local native entrepreneurs that were either wanting to start businesses in the process, or they were just thinking about that's something they would like to do in the future. And so, just doing that program helped me get around other people and pick their brains, pretty much. And just kind of went from there and got inspired by some of those other businesses there as well.”

Two vendor spaces are available for rent, and two open seats for hairdressers.

“I really support all the other small businesses here in Lawton-Fort Sill. So, there's other places, but the spots are bigger, and they cost a lot more,” Negron said. “So, I have little spots available that are here that are more price efficient for them. That way, they can display a lot of their stuff and still get it out there. The owners were here in case people had questions of their stuff today, you know, to help put their face with their products as well.”

Negron said she’s glad the salon is open and hopes to have business coming in and keep growing.