BizBrief: Aesthetic Associates closes

After 20 years in business at Zan Road, locally-owned salon Aesthetic Associates shut its doors on February 28. Owner Lucia Kaestner says this is due in part to a family illness, but also because in the current economy, clients have been cutting their facials and spa treatments out of their budget. "We had been getting fewer and fewer appointments," says Kaestner, "to the point where we couldn't stay open." Kaestner says many of her employees have gone into private practice in Charlottesville and have retained much of their clientele. Still, Kaestner says the moment is a tough one to take. "This was our baby," she says, "and now it's gone away."