Mac & Company

  Rehearsal 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

That's me, with my friend Kelly (former Miss New Hampshire USA and currently awesome wife and mother of two gorgeous kids), after my first visit to the Mac & Company salon in downtown Columbus, Ohio last week. I'd had a blowdry from Kat, plus manicure and pedicure from Leslie, and found owner Mac and the whole gang to be a real pleasure. "We aim to be upper-class without being uppity," Leslie told me, and they've sure got that right. (I also liked it that Leslie was happy to let me sit quietly and read magazines while she did my pedi - which is usually how I like to enjoy my beauty treatments - though she was so much fun to talk to that I ignored my Us Weekly completely.)

Downtown Columbus is sort of weird, with most restaurants and shops closing on the weekends, and it turns out that Leslie is the ONLY nail technician in all of downtown. So it may not seem like much to say that I think she's the best, but put it this way: I had to put my shoes and socks on mere minutes after my French pedi (my disposable salon flip-flops broke when I was walking back to my hotel), and my toes did not suffer one bit. (Kelly and our friend Karri went to another salon that morning for manis and pedis, did not put shoes on after their 10AM pedis until after 4PM, and still ended up with smushed polish.) Leslie even popped a gel tip on a nail I'd broken, at no extra charge.

Probably the most well-known luxury salon in Columbus is Charles Penzone, which I am reliably informed is not all it is cracked up (or priced) to be. At Mac & Company, I got a manicure and pedicure for $75, and my blowdry cost $40. I will definitely return if I am ever back in the area, and hope any locals who read this will give Mac & Company a try; they've only been in business since September, and I would love to see them succeed. Tell them Jackie from London sent you!

Mac & Company
37 E Gay St
Columbus, OH 43215
(614) 228-1164

Comments

[d. chedwick bryant]

is this usual? a city the size of Columbus closing shops on the weekend?

[Jackie Danicki]

Columbus is so weird that way. The only real activity happening downtown on weekends is in the Arena District, where the pro hockey team plays. The mall downtown, City Center, was THE place to be when I was a teenager, but now more than two-thirds of the stores have moved out. It's a sad excuse for a capital city.

[Joy Bemis]

I live in Columbus and don't hang out at the Arena district and find plenty of stuff to do any day of the week. The Short North (just south of downtown) has plenty of fun and hip places to go, not to mention the surrounding areas (Grandview, Campus Gateway- if that's your thing, German Village) that have a lot of bars, restaurants and clubs. I don't think it's a sorry excuse for a city and I'm pretty well traveled. So next time you come to our lovely city, get ahold of an "Other Paper" or "Columbus Alive" and find out where to go.

[Joy again]

correction: The Short North is just North (duh) of downtown.

[Jackie Danicki]

Yeah, I was talking about downtown, Joy. And this wasn't just my opinion, it was what several locals were telling me (both in Columbus and on comments to another blog of mine) - the sidewalks roll up downtown on the weekends, if you want a good time, go elsewhere. For a capital city (of my home state, as it happens), that is very sad.