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Meera Salon and Day Spa in Whitehall is all about affordable luxury.
Owner Debbie Hartman set out to offer Lehigh Valley patrons the spacious and relaxing atmosphere of a large city spa with local pricing and that's exactly what she did.
Meera did not spring up overnight. It was a gradual process, according to Christine Keim, manager of the spa. She works closely with Jennifer Ross, who is in charge of the salon aspect of the business, and Rartman, a businesswoman who owns Crest Abstract Co. in Allentown.
Meera, which occupies a former medical arts building, is tucked away on Seventh Street in Whitehall, not the Seventh Street that is also MacArthur Road, but a smaller, more local street a few streets off Eberhart Road.
Meera, like most such businesses, is an extended hair salon but it is also more than that. It is an island of serenity where professionals administer massages, facials and body treatments - a place to recover from the physical stress of a supercharged existence.
Meera marked its first anniversary in October. Earlier, Hartman, who had been a customer at the former Styles and Changes on MacArthur Road, purchased that business, moved it and turned it into a salon and spa. Keim says, "We managed to maintain our former clientele, and business was generally good the first year, and then before Christmas last year jumped off the charts with gift certificates and other business."
Keim explains that the decision to go "from MacArthur Road to an off MacArthur address was a very big one, but we already had a solid clientele and we made those people a part of our move. We kept them up to date on our remodeling, notified them of specials coming up. We really made them insiders in the process."
In addition, Keim says, "This street is kind of a shortcut for a lot of people in the northern sectors such as Catasauqua and Northampton so we've attracted lots of...