A new barbershop and beauty salon is aiming to make each customer feel like family.

Middletown native Vanessa Whitaker and her husband, Roland, plan to open Family Barber & Beauty Shop on Jan. 8 at 2907 Cincinnati-Dayton Road in the Towne Plaza shopping center.

Deciding on a location came down to wanting to make the business a multicultural one, Vanessa Whitaker said.

“We don’t want to be a shop that services a certain ethnic group,” she said. “I think what tends to happen is that people will get into a particular location and you may have people who don’t feel comfortable in going to a particular area of town.”

The Whitakers looked at several different locations before deciding on Towne Plaza.

“The people we’re leasing from have been very workable,” she said. “We found that a lot of the plazas, even thought they’ve been empty for a long time, they really were not negotiable in wanting to get in new business. At least that’s the way it appeared to us.”

“Mainly, it’s because we are in a place where we feel like the owners are treating us like family, and that’s important to us,” Whitaker said.

The couple, who researched the intricacies of starting a new business via the small business development center, was not looking to start the business with loans or grants.

“We both have worked hard and had our own monies available to do our build-out,” Whitaker said. “We are not going to be a fly-by-night organization.”

While this is the first business for Vanessa Whitaker, she is no stranger to the world of finances. She has balanced budgets for the city of Middletown and the city’s public work department and, as Middletown Division of Fire administrative assistant, she now completes them for the fire department.

Family Barber & Beauty Shop is hiring three barbers, two beauticians, a nail technician, a cosmetic make-up technician and a massage therapist.

The business plans to offer discounts — including $10 Tuesdays and $8 Senior and Military Wednesdays and a double-stamp day — free popcorn or other complimentary items on weekends, and a frequent buyer card, where those who purchase five haircuts get one free.

“Every few cards that we distribute is going to be a free haircut,” she said.

The shop also plans to offer a free first haircut to toddlers by appointment.

“I have two sons and two grandsons, and I think the first haircut is always kind of special,” Vanessa Whitaker said. “We want them to know that this is a family business, so we want them to start their children with us. We want to put his picture on the shop wall so that as he grows, he’ll know he’s growing with the business.”

The business also will replace watch batteries and bands and sell novelty watches and gift items, she said.