Phenix Salon Suites Welcomes Seven Stylists After Mattison's Sudden Closure

Seven beauty professionals displaced by Mattison Avenue Salon Suites & Spa's eight-day closure notice landed at Phenix Salon Suites in Clearwater, FL inside a week and a half — two of them seeing new clients within 72 hours.

The vacate order arrived by email on Jan. 2, demanding tenants be out by Jan. 10 with no guarantee of water or power through the move-out window. Phenix franchisees Shawn and Lynn Foreman answered with a counter-offer the same week.

"That was the benefit of being a salon-suites environment," Foreman told Patch. "They literally could pick up their chair and plug it in somewhere else."

What did Phenix put on the table?

The Foremans were already running a first-two-weeks-free promotion when the Mattison exodus hit. For the displaced professionals, they layered on a reduced weekly rent for an additional two months, on top of the waived launch period.

Phenix also dropped the usual onboarding friction — deposits, paperwork, build-out waits — and let incoming pros move existing clients straight onto the Clearwater suite's books.

"We wanted to help in the transition and make it as smooth and economically feasible as possible," Foreman said. The goal: get stylists in fast, give them economic breathing room, then back to a normal rhythm inside two-and-a-half months.

Why did the move have to happen so quickly?

Mattison Avenue's email gave tenants an eight-day window. Power and water were not guaranteed during the move-out period, and the building's doors physically locked behind the operators leaving.

"They got that letter the first week of the year. Many were just coming back from the new year, from the holidays. They had full books and were excited about getting the new year started," Foreman said. "They should have been focused on work."

Patch has contacted Mattison Avenue's regional property manager and will update this story with any response.

How did Phenix learn about the closure?

A Phenix tenant who had previously worked out of Mattison tipped the Foremans off. Foreman then drove to the closing location, handed out business cards, and pitched the suite-switch in person.

For salon-suite operators watching from outside Tampa Bay, the choreography of that handoff is the operational takeaway. Suite-based models, by design, allow renters to relocate with client lists and brand intact — provided a competitor has vacant suites ready when a landlord moves to lock out.

Who are the Foremans?

Shawn and Lynn Foreman bought into the Phenix franchise system in 2022 and opened the Clearwater location with 35 suites in September 2023. Shawn spent 30 years in pharmaceutical sales leadership; Lynn continues to work for Hilton in hospitality. They live in Tampa.

The Mattison closing forced an unplanned growth moment. Phenix absorbed seven new tenants — what Foreman called a near-instant fill-up — and the Foremans framed the episode as mutual support between operator and tenants.

"Particularly for small business owners not used to that level of urgency and uncertainty ... it could have created quite a disruption to their ability to maximize their livelihood," Foreman said. "We were able to meet their needs and offer them an alternative that was incredibly beneficial for them and for us."

"When one ship is supporting another, the tide rises all boats," he added.

What does this mean for working salons?

A competing salon's sudden closure is both humanitarian pressure and an inventory event. The seven-suite fill at Phenix — accomplished inside a week and a half — shows how a multi-tenant model absorbs displaced revenue without a discount window stretching past two-and-a-half months.

For stylists weighing their own footprint, the Clearwater episode is a reminder that single-salon dependence carries landlord risk. Watch next: whether Mattison Avenue's regional property manager responds on the eight-day notice, and how the affected Clearwater tenant map settles in the months ahead.