The Civello spa and salon at 269 Queen St. W. has shared a "holiday miracle": the spot won't be closing thanks to a new arrangement with the landlord.

Founder Ray Civello attributed the Queen St. location's troubles to the pandemic. He says many stylists left the city during lockdown and didn't come back, as well as customers simply not being downtown during the pandemic.

According to Civello, that led to the Queen St. location losing about 40 per cent of its revenue.

He also says a similar number of stylists and salon operators didn't return to business across Canada — between 30 and 40 per cent. 

Eventually, Civello let the landlord know their situation and the plan was to close at the end of the year. That is, until they were able to reach a better deal on rent — enough that they were able to continue the business.

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"When I referred to it as a miracle, I wasn't kidding. I wasn't expecting that," Civello tells blogTO. "The team is extremely excited. And we're continuing to work very hard to rebuild."

The salon opened in 1989 in its Rosedale location. The Queen St. version opened in 1999.

There's also an Uptown spot on Yonge St., one in Oakville and a Vancouver location in South Granville.

All of his locations were hurt by the pandemic, but Civello says Queen St. was hit the hardest because it's the largest one and has the highest overhead costs. It's also the highest revenue generator for the franchise.

"I'm very excited about where we are right now," Civello says. "And if you'd asked me that maybe four months ago, I might not have been able to give you the same answer."