28 North Main Street in Ambler is going to be the new home to The Noble Bear Salon, which has a tentative grand opening date in early September.  We talked with owner, Katie Cotton-Foster who gave us a little background about what has brought her and her family into this new and exciting venture.

Photo: Katie with Joe the woodworker, going over some last minute details of the pieces he’s making for the salon. 

Katie was born in Texas and still has lots of family living there, and so much of The Noble Bear Salon will have a Texas influence in the design, the overall vibe, and also the name. Katie’s son’s name is Noble Bear which is a family name passed down from her great grandaddy in East Texas.

Photo: Katie and Theodore’s son Noble Bear in front of the new sign.

Despite her strong Texas roots, Katie grew up primarily on the Main Line and after college moved to Austin, Texas for a few years, which is where she attended a Paul Mitchell Academy. Katie then moved back East and for the greater part of the last ten years, worked at a salon in Ardmore, Salon True, where she said she built an incredible career full of amazing coworkers and clients. Her last day there was this past Saturday and Katie added:

…it was a gracious goodbye and a very tearful one both on my side and the owners. I am very fortunate for all of the support and love I received as I set out on this adventure.

Theodore, Katie’s husband, grew up in the Ambler area, and as a family they started to think about opening a space here. Owning her own business in Ambler caught Katie’s attention as she noticed …”the amazing growth happening every time I would drive from Ardmore to visit family here.” This past spring Katie and her family made it official, bought a house, and decided to move forward with opening a business, a decision that she told us, “… just felt very right in my heart.”

Photo taken last weekend after the new floors were installed.

Katie is excited to bring her business philosophy to The Noble Bear Salon:

My hope is to bring a little bit of Austin Texas to Ambler, to bring a place where people can come and hang, get their hair done, have a great coffee/espresso drink, return emails, have some time with a girlfriend..not just a place to have hair done and run out after. People are busy, and I want them to have a place they can both multitask and at the same time enjoy time to themselves.
I want  to bring my love of our industry, to stylists looking for the right fit, in a salon. It will be structured internally a bit differently then a lot of salons in the industry. There will be structured opportunities for growth, for educating, for benefits and paid vacation time, a work/life balance. I’ve worked this way my whole career and I can attest personally to how it has allowed me to get to a place I am today. I want to grow others and lead them to be the best versions of themselves. Hair stylists are and should be incredibly proud of what they do for others day in and day out and I hope to find the right team in time!

Photos courtesy of Katie Cotton-Foster and The Noble Bear Salon