Sturgeon Bay salon eyes hot-and-cold plunge in medispa expansion

First Impressions Hair Studio has moved just up the street to 915 Egg Harbor Road in Sturgeon Bay, and owner Crystal Brandt says the new address is only the start. Her long-term plan is to turn the salon into a medispa-style business, with lasers, red-light therapy, GLP-1 weight-loss services and a hot-and-cold plunge under consideration.

The salon is not scrapping what made it a familiar name in Door County. Brandt said current services will stay in place as the business builds out the next phase, and the shop will keep serving bridal clients and working from its signature airplane chair. The five-year plan stretches beyond equipment, too. Brandt said she wants to add stylists, massage therapists, nail technicians and a lash technician, but staffing is the biggest immediate challenge.

That mix of beauty and recovery services gives the move a different feel than a routine relocation. A salon evaluating a plunge setup signals how contrast therapy is seeping into businesses that have not traditionally sold wellness recovery. In the ice bath world, that matters because the conversation is no longer limited to dedicated clubs and high-end performance centers. A neighborhood salon in a small market is now looking at the same tools as part of a broader service menu.

Brandt’s backstory helps explain why the expansion feels less like a quick pivot and more like a long bet on the business. She bought First Impressions in 2002 when she was 19, after getting an early start in the industry and leaning on a family connection to salon work. More than two decades later, she is treating the move as a chance to grow the business without losing the services that built its local reputation.

The setting also makes the move worth watching. Sturgeon Bay had 9,671 residents in the 2020 census, a small base for any expansion, even in a county where tourism carries real weight. Door County’s visitor economy generated $523.2 million in direct spending in 2024 and $651.2 million in total economic impact, while Wisconsin tourism reached a record $25.8 billion statewide. That kind of traffic helps explain why businesses there keep leaning into experience-driven services.

State licensing rules add another hurdle. Wisconsin requires cosmetology establishments to employ at least one full-time licensed cosmetology manager, which can shape how quickly a salon can layer in new offerings. For First Impressions, the move to 915 Egg Harbor Road is not just a change of scenery. It is an early signal that cold plunge culture, recovery services and medspa-style amenities are becoming part of the mainstream business conversation in Door County.