Gainesville Gets New Spa Exclusively for Kids

Edwennia Galloway opens a dream spa

Story by: Devoun Cetoute

Edwennia Galloway, 42, has spent the last three months materializing a dream years in the making. Galloway is the owner of Trinity’s Day Spa, 2441 NW 43rd St., which is the only girls and teen spa in Gainesville.

From large princess chairs to pink and gold decorations all around the store, there is no doubt Trinity’s has children in mind.

Since opening on Nov. 2, parents are already talking about their great experiences. Chassidy Wilson brought her 6-year-old daughter, Alana Dinkins, to Trinity’s to celebrate her birthday after seeing pictures on Instagram.

“I loved it,” Wilson said. “I have never seen anything set up like this. The chairs, the walls, everything is nice. I love it, I think this is the best place.”

Tamara Mitchell says she brought her two children – 12-year-old Caitlyn Mitchell and 6-year-old Kylee Mitchell – after seeing how beautiful the store was in Facebook. She said they wouldn’t stop smiling and talking about going back.

“Gainesville doesn’t have anywhere to go for kids that are kid-friendly,” Mitchell said. “When you walk into other salons you smell that harsh chemical smell and I really didn’t like taking them there, but they really liked getting their nails painted. Trinity’s is perfect.”

Sitting done and speaking with Galloway gave us the opportunity to see a little into her life as an owner.

Q: What did you do before owning Trinity’s Day Spa? Did it ever conflict with trying to open the business?

A: I have 18 years of banking experience. I was a loan officer for the last nine years and I’ve achieved so much since then. I was trying to bring this vision to life at the same time that I was working at the bank, but it was very hard because I worked banker’s hours. There wasn’t much I could do before 9 a.m. and there wasn’t much I could do after 5 p.m. My vision was lacking, so I had to step out here in faith. I walked away from banking to follow my dream. This was what I really wanted to do.

Q: What struggles have you faced trying to get the spa off the ground?

A: I was trying to do this all by myself and it became so overwhelming trying to find where to get things from. I reached out to a buddy of mine who does interior decorating on the side and asked for help. I spent August and September renovating,

and the first week of October. Not realizing how much work needed to be done to have my vision and my dream come to reality it took a little more time because I didn’t want to settle.

Q: What financial hurtles did you come across buying all the equipment, decorations and beautifying the store?

A: It was very expensive actually. There was a fee to get the chairs made. A fee just to get the chairs through customs. A fee for just the warehouse. Not to add the fee for renting a U-Haul. So, once you figure all of that just the chairs alone were very expensive. Then you have to keep in mind, the building before me was an old chocolate store. So, it was simply green inside. Very green. I had to get painters to come in and strip the entire place from top to bottom. Paint is very expensive when you have to buy so much of it. On top of that you have your regular rent to pay.

Q: What did you envision for the business and have you reached that goal despite the struggles?

A: The goal in my mind was to have a place where little girls could come and feel like this is for them. A place where they could come and feel like a princess. For the most of it, I have reached that goal. I would say I have reached 80% of it because it was a vision and when I walk into the store I see my vision. The other 20% is just the traffic flow, which the vision will gravitate the traffic flow to come in. Of course, there is more that I see myself doing in a year from now. But this is the foundation of it right here and this is what I visualized.

Q: What feedback have you gotten from your customers?

A: All of the feedback has been very positive and very hopeful. It has been more exciting for the moms then the kids, actually, because they have been looking for something like this to do with their kids. Once word gets out and everyone knows we are officially open, I have no worries we will probably be flooded out the doors.