The Melbourne Building has lost one of its longest residents with Cataldo's hairdressing salon moving to Ainslie Place.
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After 33 years facing Northbourne Avenue, the Cataldos have swapped views of the light rail works for a leafy pocket park just off City Walk.
"Northbourne Avenue has been a wonderful area however we felt that it was time to move," said Angelo Cataldo.
"[The new location] is such a beautiful area and when we saw the opportunity to move we thought, 'this is it, this is the move, this is the place we want to be in'.
"And clients are saying it's such a better location so I think we made the right decision."
The Cataldos still own the space in the Melbourne Building, and are stripping it back before looking for a new tenant. But Emilio Cataldo said the building, where their previous salon had run since 1984, "does need work".
"But we couldn't wait until they got their act together. We could only influence what we had and that wasn't enough. We really need that area to be supported by the government," he said.
"So maybe it will happen but we have to do what we have to do."
Their new salon was originally planned for early 2016, just following the business's 50th birthday, but the process was delayed which the brothers said was due to them taking the time to get everything right.
Located on the stretch between the Canberra Centre and Canberra Theatre, the upmarket new salon is kitted out with brand new furniture and equipment imported from Italy.
The space combines cutting stations around the perimeter, a communal colouring station down the middle, a relaxing shampooing area at the back with massage chairs, state-of-the-art technology, and a drinks bar down one side.
It's a big change from the original salon on Marcus Clarke Street, opened by Emilio and Angelo's father Giuseppe Cataldo in 1965.
Both sons helped out from a young age, standing on a box so they could reach the heads of clients to shampoo their hair, and they both went on to work in the industry themselves, continuing the Cataldo's business with with sister Anna, other brother Aldo and their extended families.
These days, Angelo and Emilio only work in the salon a day-and-a-half each per week, but they enjoy training up the next generation of the business, with many staff members having stuck with them for decades.
