Hair replacement office marks one year in business
by BREANN HOWELL West Seneca Editor

Hair loss can be embarrassing and frustrating for people of all ages and genders.

That's why Judy Klumpp and Linda Miller pride themselves in offering confidential and individualized service to those who are losing their hair.

With more than 20 years of experience in the hair care industry, the two licensed cosmetologists recently celebrated their one-year anniversary of providing hair replacement systems at Hairway to Heaven, located at 531 Center Road in West Seneca.

The business had formerly been in located in the Town of Amherst.

Since opening Hairway to Heaven in September 2006, Klumpp, a Hamburg resident, and Miller, a West Seneca resident, have focused on assisting men and women with permanent or semipermanent hair loss, many of whom don't realize they can be helped.

"I think a lot of them don't know it's available to them," Miller said, last fall.

Though Hairway has mostly a male client base, Klumpp and Miller say that have insight on the sensitive issues associated with hair loss, allowing them to help women.

By this past winter, the co-owners said they were seeing more female clientele.

Now, they hope to reach out to children affected by hair loss due to short- or long-term medical conditions.

Klumpp and Miller are working with a nonprofit organization, Children with Hair Loss, which provides hair replacement systems for youth free of charge. Anyone up to age 21 is eligible, according to Miller.

Hairway to Heaven's hair replacement systems, made from human hair, come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Some can be detached daily and others are more permanent. They can be styled and washed, and most people wearing a hair replacement piece can participate in athletic activities without worry.

The two owners recently traveled to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for a New Image Hair Replacement Seminar. They returned with not only additional knowledge, but with new hair replacement systems that offer virtually undetected hairlines, according to Miller. Having just celebrated its first year in business, Hairway to Heaven is offering a free introductory service to any competitor's client in an effort to show people the latest hair systems and techniques used by hair loss specialists.

In another effort to provide discrete service to clients, Hairway to Heaven is now online at www.hairwaytoheaven.info, where testimonials and information on the office and its services are available. Klumpp and Miller can be reached by e-mail at hairway2heaven@verizon.net.

"We wanted to make a Web site to give more information on such a personal thing," Miller said.

Hairway to Heaven can assist men, women or children with hair loss due to medications, accidents, burns, alopecia, chemotherapy treatment and pattern baldness. Wig service and repair is also provided.

Klumpp and Miller offer free, private consultations.

For more information on Children with Hair Loss or any of Hairway to Heaven's services, visit www.hairwaytoheaven.info or call 674-4411.

e-mail: bhowell@beenews.com