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BUSINESS
SCOTTSDALE PROGRESS | WWW.SCOTTSDALE.ORG | JUNE 12, 2022
Business
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Stylists prove mothers can do anything BY CHRISTINA FUOCO-KARASINSKI Progress Staff Writer
A Bug & Weed Mart owner Jim LaBrie stands next to his son Joe who operates the Scottsdale location and acts as the business’s director of operations. Bug & Weed Mart has been in business for over 40 years and has had a presence in Scottsdale for over two decades. (Special to the Progress)
Bug & Weed Mart thrives with family BY ALEX GALLAGHER Progress Staff Writer
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ike most things, it started with a need, Owner Jim LaBrie likes to tell people about how he founded Bug & Weed Mart over 40 years ago. LaBrie had been teaching at Alhambra High School and felt bugged by critters that snuck into his home. However, since he was on a teacher’s salary, he couldn’t afford an exterminator. So he decided to do the best he could by going to hardware stores and purchasing the best bug juice he could find.
Unfortunately, the sprays didn’t do the trick. So, he kept searching until he stumbled into a small shop in Mesa that had what he needed. LaBrie was able to purchase the same chemicals used by professional exterminators and his creepy-crawly visitors took a hike. He became so impressed by the concept that he kept a close eye on it and eventually purchased the business he once patronized, giving birth to Bug & Weed Mart. Before Jim knew it, the business be-
see BUG page 31
my Phillips was helping her mother move when she came across one of her class assignments. “It was a paper I wrote when I was 9 about what I wanted to be when I grew up,” Phillips said. “I said a hairdresser or a babysitter.” The North Phoenix resident is living her dream with True Salon in the Scottsdale Airpark. She and fellow stylist Holly Canton founded the space earlier this spring. “We wanted people to feel comfortable and safe,” said Canton, a California native. “We wanted just a comfortable Holly Canton, left, and Amy Phillips foundedTrue Saplace for clients to get their hair lon in Salon Plaza in May. (Dennis Murphy/Progress Contributor) done. It’s like you’re home, but perfect.” you’re not. We knew it would Before Canton entered the industry 15 be stressful, but if we did it together, it years ago, she wavered between playing would be fun.” professional soccer and doing hair. Located in Salon Plaza, True Salon ofWhen she and her husband relocated fers haircuts and trims for children, preto the Valley, she was hired by Cast Sateen/teen and adults; highlights; glaze; lon & Spa at High Street. There, she and blow dry; men’s cuts; color correction Phillips, who also worked there, became and waxing. acquainted with each other’s work. True Salon sells Virtue products that “I always dreamed of having my own rebuild and restore hair. They have been really intimate place,” said Phillips, a touted by a myriad of magazines as well Chicago native. “It took 26 years, but we as Oprah Winfrey. “We both wanted something that had a did it.” “We wanted a place for our customers clean, fresh smell and was better for the to feel comfortable, somewhere they can environment,” Canton adds. “We tried it share their super exciting or sad news. personally, because we try everything We wanted something very cozy and inon us, and it’s incredible. “It’s an up-and-coming line. It’s all over Instagram and Sephora has it. It’s see TRUE page 31
