On Saturday October 19th, local celebrity stylist Martino Cartier is celebrating the Grand Opening of his all new 4,000 square foot salon which was constructed on Salina Road in Washington Township. The building will also serve as the homebase for his Wigs & Wishes charity, offering private spaces for women battling cancer who are visiting to receive a wig at no cost.
The new salon is located at 124 Salina Road, not too far from the Egg Harbor Road intersection.
The Grand Opening festivities are scheduled for Saturday October 19th from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, and the ribbon cutting is set for 2:00 PM. (Facebook Post)
This new building is a relocation of his existing salon, which was also in Washington Township.
I stopped in this week to chat with Martino and to tour the new facility.
Construction is complete and all of the salon equipment is in place, but during my visit the property was bustling with workers focused on the finishing touches, particularly the exterior aspects such as landscaping. Not to worry, everything will be ready for Saturday!
Martino developed the impressive new building at the front of his large and beautiful estate-like home property in Washington Township. He can literally walk from his home down a path which winds past the onsite petting zoo… directly to the new salon.
At his new salon building, it was clearly a design goal for the new building to connect the salon to the outdoors and his amazing property.
The building offers large windows, sections of full glass walls as well as strategically placed bifold glass doors which can be opened-up to truly connect the salon with the outside.
Outside, the overhang roof extends probably 8 to 12 feet on three sides of the building, creating a wraparound outdoor patio space. The stylish design elements of the building and landscaping feels almost as much like a winery tasting room experience as it does a salon!
And that’s likely a big part of the reason for the new salon location at his home. Martino is as much about helping people and bringing them together, as he is an amazing hair stylist and businessperson.
Martino frequently hosts events at his home in support of the local community and the charities that he runs… and it would seem the location and design of the new salon building was smartly chosen to extend his Salina Road community experiences.
Everything about his property is separate… his home, the petting zoo, the salon and associated parking… but then it’s also all smartly connected with a reason and purpose.
This property also includes a Cape Cod home located to the side of the new salon. Martino says that home will be remodeled into a place for families to stay when they’re in the area for medical treatment at area health facilities… for free.
Which brings us to Wigs And Wishes.
Martino Cartier – Wigs And Wishes
My coverage of his new salon was the first time I’ve met Martino, but I absolutely was well aware of his is salon, charitable efforts and even the fun events he has at his home.
Martino is known at a National level and in fact Paula Abdul is on his Charity’s Board of Directors… But if you live in Gloucester County as I do, he’s just one of those iconic residents that it seems everyone knows… or knows of.
Which brings me to something that jumped out at me from our conversation.
Here we are standing in his brand new salon located on his amazing property… and after maybe 5 or 7 minutes of chatting I realize Martino had not said one word about the new building we were standing in.
Martino’s conversation focus was on the charitable efforts of Wigs and Wishes and the people helped by his charity, the salon, and other participating salons and doctors.
Nothing about it felt planned… I honestly believe that if a complete stranger met Martino while vacationing in some other part of the world, they would walk away from their chance encounter thinking “An amazing guy, Martino runs an awesome charity”
Which is not to take away from the beautiful salon and talented staff that is still incredibly important to him of course. The salon business still represents the significant largest portion (and reason) for the new building.
But he also has an amazing staff at the salon keep things moving along smoothly and loyal customers who love the facilities that Martino provides, the stylist that he has on staff… And all seem happy that he has the capacity to help so many others.
Martino told me about how in 2011 the the Wigs aspect of his charity was born when he came up with the idea of joining forces with salons across the world to create a safe haven for women to go, regardless of their financial situation.
They now have hundreds of salons on board and have reached the point of donating 25,000 wigs a year to women battling cancer.
Oh, and a correction on my earlier statement… Martino DID mention his salon in those first minutes as I spoke to him…simply to call out the new building offers an optional side entrance which leads to a private area for women coming in for a wig fitting, if they prefer a more private space.
A year after starting his wig charity, in 2012 Martino was introduced to a young girl named Kiki who had been battling cancer since she was eight years old. The family was having difficulties finding a foundation to help her with a wig.
Kiki was introduced to Martino to see if he can make a wig for her (which he did) and a friendship quickly formed.
Months later Martino’s organization helped Kiki again by granting her wish of meeting Justin Bieber. Martino and his team pulled together an experience which included attending Justin’s concert, arriving in a hot pink stretch limo… And a chance to meet Justin personally.
This then led to the start of the “Wishes” aspect of his charity.
Today the charity has donated over 100,000 wigs and given dozens of wishes just been granted due to the help and support of generous sponsors and donors.
Links and Locations
Martino Cartier Salon – Wigs & Wishes
124 Salina Road
Sewell NJ
856-582-6600