An Industry Grows, Taking Nadia Salon Along

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Overlooking Walnut Street sits a salon unlike most that you’d find in the Burgh.

The spacious shop has been responsible for amazing styles for the past 9 years, with expansions soon on its way.

You definitely won’t find any perm rods, hair rollers or dryer chairs in Nadia Salon but we think the hair color bar, awesome glasswork and salon owner and stylist Jeff Palmieri easily make up for it.

“Sometimes I get more and more pumped every week to come in here and style,” said Palmieri

The Penn Hills native started out small, drying his mother’s hair for her after long days taking care of three kids on her own. An artist by nature, Palmieri began to grow his hair out long and realized how hard it was to keep long and healthy. When the time came to choose a career path, Palmieri went with his heart even though his stomach was screaming pastry chef.

After spending time at DADA Academy, Vidal Sassoon, Jaquex Dessage, RUSK Academy and Fremesi Symposium, Palmieri took up a position at Griff Salon in Shadyside. The progressive salon gave him the opportunity to build a cliental and set the scene for his first salon Hair Inc. After 10 years in business and a surprise from his landlord that the property was being sold, coming across the space that is now Nadia Salon was just what Palmieri always wanted.

“I was driving down Walnut one day and looked up and seen the lease sign on the property that I always wanted my salon to be in,” said Palmieri.

The old record store that once resonated at 5519 Walnut Street has been gone for 9 years and replaced with a one of a kind salon that could double as a bar, art or yoga studio given enough time in advance. Named after his own daughter, Nadia, the red, gray and black interior gives the space an incredibly modern appeal with enough lounge space to make any client feel at home.

Palmieri’s love for all things rock and roll stand front and center at the salon, with a huge Mick Jagger painting just above the couch. You can take a tour of Palmieri’s career as well as his musical journeys in his shampoo station, possibly catching a glimpse of his signed tickets and photo with KISS. His features in the Trib, Whirl and Pittsburgh Magazine are displayed proudly, and can you blame him? In just under a decade Nadia Salon has become a fixture in Shadyside.

Additional space is on its way, with a pedicure room currently under construction and property hunting in both LA and Pittsburgh. Continuing the Nadia brand, Palmieri’s son Jeffery is still waiting on a product to be named after him.

With the industry expanding so rapidly over the past 10 years, Palmieri hopes to keep his salon apart from the rest and the most of all keep his clients happy and coming back.

“I take pride in all the work done here and worried about what’s going out our doors, not what’s going into our drawers,” said Palmieri.