Trendie's Salon has been a staple on the Mexico square for decades known not only for its services but for its lavish window displays as well.

This small piece of Mexico’s history has been owned by Brandie Wilson for the last 22 years and she has officially passed the torch to one of her own stylists, Amber Toney.

On Thursday, after less than two months of negotiation and paperwork, Toney cut the ribbon and was awarded her first dollar of profit as the proud new owner of Trendie's Salon.

Toney grew up in Wellsville and graduated from Mexico High School.

“I was actually going to go to the Hart Career Center for cosmetology but I changed my mind and thought I was going to do nursing and so I got my CNA,” Toney said.

She went to nursing school for about a year before making the switch back to cosmetology and went to Paul Mitchell The School. When she graduated in July 2017, she went to work at Regis Salon in Columbia.

Toney grew up in Trendie's Salon getting her hair cut by Wilson who had found out through another one of her clients, Toney’s grandmother, that Toney was now a stylist.

Wilson made the call and offered Toney a job fresh out of school.

Toney said she originally turned Wilson down because she had a lot going on in her life.

But eventually, the commute from Mexico to Columbia became too much and Toney had established local clientele through school, work and family, so she took Wilson up on her offer in October 2018, leaving her commission-based job in Columbia to rent a booth at Trendie's.

“It was kind of scary because it was like, either you make it or you don’t,” Toney said.

While working at Trendie's, Wilson had discussed selling the business a couple years ago with Toney who expressed her interest in taking it over but it wasn’t the right time.

When she was finally ready, Toney jumped at the opportunity.

“It was just really fast,” Toney said. “We negotiated and the rest was history.”

At 28 years old, with a family of her own, three months short of celebrating seven years as a Trendie's stylist, Toney is now a business owner with big plans for Trendie's’ future.

“Right now I am remodeling a storage room that we have in the salon that was used for decorations,” Toney said.

Her goal is to use the remodeled storage room as a lash room by August and that is only the first of many changes meant to broaden the services offered at Trendie's.

Since Trendie's has been in its current location at 110 N. Jefferson St. for almost 10 years, Toney is starting with a fresh coat of paint and some updated decor.

“My goal is in the next year (to) start finding land in town, a lot, and building a new building,” Toney said. “I want to make it a more full-service salon, not just hair, extensions and lashes. I want to do scalp treatments and facials and have someone do tanning and offer a whole variety of services.”

One thing she won’t be changing, regardless of where they are, are the iconic window displays previously decorated by Sandy Benn whose handcrafted decorations have been a Trendie's staple.

“Honestly, I cannot take any credit for that,” Toney said. “I am going to struggle without her.”

Toney and Wilson will both remain behind the chair serving their clients while Toney works to keep Trendie’s popular and on the square for many more years.