By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief
Michele International has set up shop on Montana Avenue, following the destruction of its Sunset Boulevard salon in the Palisades fire.
“After 40 years of serving the Pacific Palisades community, Michele International Salon was lost in the devastating Palisades fire,” read a statement. “What had been a cherished family-run business—built on decades of trust, loyalty and community—was reduced to ashes.”
In addition to the loss of the salon, “several members of the extended salon family” lost their homes in the fire as well, including many clients and owner Marice McCrory-Irwin’s son and daughter.
“It was heartbreaking to watch it all burn on the news, knowing there was nothing we could do,” described the owners, McCrory-Irwin and sister Anne Egan. “The chairs, desks, books, important papers—everything we had built over the years—gone.”
Despite the losses, they said they knew they wanted to return to serve their clients.
“We knew we couldn’t give up,” they described. “After everything we’ve been through, we still had each other—and our incredible clients, many of whom became family over the years.”
One of these clients is former Honorary Mayor of Pacific Palisades Steve Guttenberg, who shared the news of the salon reopening with the Palisadian-Post.
“Marice and Anne … and everybody are just such a beautiful, beautiful family,” he said. “They are very involved in the community, not only having hundreds of clients that live in the neighborhood, they take care of it.”
Their brother, Martin McCrory, is also part of the salon.
Guttenberg described driving past the spot where the salon was located on Sunset Boulevard a couple of days after January 7, saying: “It devastated me.”
“I knew what it meant to this family to have a business,” Guttenberg said. “[It was] just destroyed, physically destroyed, and they handled it with such grace and elegance.”
Guttenberg described the salon’s history, which extends back to roots in Ireland, eventually landing on Swarthmore before moving to Sunset.
After the fire, McCrory-Irwin described going to where clients’ were living, then renting a space for a couple of hours per day. She said that many of their clients are located or have been displaced to nearby areas, but some have come from “far away just to support us,” including Newport Beach and Santa Barbara.
She expressed gratitude to her “loyal” clients: “They’re still coming back to us, no matter where they are. I just would love to say thank you. I really appreciate it.”
Michele International Salon is located at 1106 Montana Avenue in Santa Monica. Its opening was celebrated with a welcoming reception on June 29.
“I’m so proud of them because they are a symbol of Pacific Palisades,” Guttenberg said. “They’re a symbol of who we are and who we must be … we are realistic that this tragedy occurred, and we are optimistic and hopeful and spiritual and mindful that we must be positive, it’s the only way to go.”
McCrory-Irwin and Egan said that moving from the Palisades “was not easy,” but walking into “this new space feels like a blessing.
“We prayed for a fresh start, and now we have a beautiful new salon to share with the people who’ve supported us for so long,” the owners said. “It will be wonderful to see our clients together again. So many of them first met at Michele International in the Palisades. This next chapter will be filled with the same love and care we’ve always believed in.”
The salon is currently open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Saturday. To reach Michele International Salon, call 310-454-1885.
