A couple from Emerald Isle has opened a salon suite franchise in Wilmington, in the new retail center at 4712 New Centre Drive.

The Wilmington location of My Salon Suite in New Centre Commons is 4,500 square feet with 24 luxury suites for hair stylists and others who provide beauty services.

"The location is absolutely beautiful. It's a brand new building with a terrific landlord that allowed us to design and build a really great My Salon Suite complex," said Jack Bunyan, who owns the franchise with his wife, Linda Bunyan. 

The Bunyans currently have 14 professionals working at their Wilmington location, with 11 suites available.

"Beauty professionals are able to open and operate their own businesses, so they're accountable to themselves, and they're entrepreneurs," Linda Bunyan said. "They're in their own space, and they're able to do it in the way they want to do it, so it's great for the creative personality and it's great for independence."

The Bunyans used local vendors on the way to opening their Wilmington franchise, including general contractor Gaines & Associates Builders Inc. and architect Michael Saieed of Design Elements. 

At My Salon Suite franchises, those who lease suites are provided with local and national marketing support, business operations support, suite and building maintenance and support with business development, among other services, according to a news release.

Founded in 2010, the New Orleans-based My Salon Suite franchise company has franchises in 16 states in the U.S. and in Canada, with plans to add 200 franchise partners and 200 salons in the next five years, according to a news release.

New Centre Commons, a 15,000-square-foot center near Target that's owned by Winston-Salem DG LLC, was completed last year, and other tenants include The Bump & Beyond, a store that sells maternity, infant and children's items, Mizuki Japanese Hibachi & Sushi Express, TLC Nail Salon and Agostino's Pizza & Pasta.