ASHEVILLE – With elegant, wide mirrors, comfy chairs and numerous thriving plants in Balm Salon, the flakey, sweltering, muddied walls from record flooding felt like a distant memory.
When floodwaters were still high in the River Arts District, the salon’s owner, Erin Quevedo, was among the first to make it into the district to start picking up the pieces after Tropical Storm Helene. Now, she’s part of its slow reopening.
Balm Salon owner Erin Quevedo works on a customer’s hair on March 25, 2025. After being totally flooded during Tropical Storm Helene, the salon reopened on March 1.
Six months after the salon was destroyed by the storm, Balm is one of many businesses in the River Arts District adjusting to the long-term recovery process. While some businesses near the river still have twisted metal and wooden debris lying around, others have reopened or announced plans to reopen in the coming months.
After months of late-night work spent rebuilding the salon while also balancing a full-time job, Balm reopened in the River Arts District on March 1.
For small business owners like Quevedo, reopening has been necessary. Natural disasters have an outsized impact on the success of small businesses. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, 43% of small businesses affected by a disaster never reopen, and an additional 29% go out of business within two years of the disaster.
The River Arts District definitely “feels different,” she said. While some have reopened along Depot Street, where Balm is located, others are still in the process of reopening. Major areas of the district, including businesses along Riverside Drive and Foundy Street, are still figuring out next steps. Pedestrian traffic remains slow. Some businesses along the road, including the James Beard Award Nominated restaurant Vivian, have closed due to the storm.
“There is a lot of stuff that’s coming back that feels really hopeful, but it’s also like one of those things where you drive through and every day you still see the remnants,” Quevedo said.
Balm Salon owner Erin Quevedo works on a customer’s hair on March 25, 2025. After being totally flooded during Tropical Storm Helene, the salon reopened on March 1.
The salon’s rebound was the result of online community fundraising through GoFundMe, small business grants from Dogwood Health Trust and Mountain BizWorks and some of her own money. Other aid came from stylists she didn’t even know — who sent in donated tools and equipment from New York to California — and distant, anonymous donors who sent checks. Other help came from husband Ted and her son, who were both by her side the morning after the storm and continued to help rebuild.
Because the building had only been deemed “restricted” after the flood, the rebuilding process was substantially less complicated than for structures deemed “unsafe.” It meant the building’s owner didn’t have to go through extensive approvals to rebuild. Quevedo is now working on adding a spa to the business.
After being totally flooded during Tropical Storm Helene, Balm Salon reopened on March 1.
Still, the salon’s resurfaced table tops and mirrors, both saved after the flood, serve as a reminder that it has not been long since she was bagging dirtied, damaged hair products in the immediate aftermath of the storm. Other reminders of the storm come up in conversation with clients, many of whom have stories of their own.
“I feel like what we do is more than just hair,” Quevedo said. “My clients sit down, and they talk to me about their stories or what’s happening in their life. And most of my clients have some kind of story about the storm.”
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: River Arts District salon ‘completely destroyed’ by Helene reopens
