Updated Feb. 17 to include information about Crown Slayer Salon.
When clients visit Crown Slayer Salon in downtown Gibsonville, they go for more than just the hairstyles. Owner and stylist Bonita Garner works to provide everyone who sits down in her chair an outlet to talk, ask for advice or just connect. Together they form a relationship that is more than just stylist and client, but one of openness and mutual trust.
“Often stylists are so much more than just stylists,” Garner said. “We become counselors in a way.”
She said that sometimes her clients have things going on in their lives, hair-related or not, that they need to get off their chests. They may ask for advice, or they may just need a listening ear. And that relationship goes both ways — Garner said she’ll often ask for feedback too.
She said she hopes her clients leave feeling better about whatever was keeping them down.
“It’s so much bigger than just a hair appointment,” she said.
That practice of going above and beyond was successful, with Garner opening a second location just three years after the first. Garner said Crown Slayer Salon fills a need in the area — somewhere for the Black community to embrace their natural hair and learn to style it effectively.
She said that, historically, Black women were taught to cover their hair with Tignons or head wraps rather than embrace it.
“It’s important because we haven’t always had a history of loving our hair,” Garner said. “We have had to learn to love ourselves, from our crown to our skin to who we are.”
She evaluates hair texture, conditions and past hair experiences to advise clients on the best steps forward, including how to treat their hair in between appointments.
“You really have to get to know the client, know their history to be able to provide the best experience for them,” she said.
Garner said she feels that healthy and beautiful hair has the ability to unlock new levels of confidence, saying one of her favorite parts of the job is seeing her clients transform, saying joy “exudes from your hair to your whole body.”
“When you have the answers to care for your hair, and you are seeing it evolve and become this beautiful, healthy version, then you naturally just learn to love yourself even more,” Garner said.
Just 200 yards away, another Black-owned business is filling a hole in the community. Alexis Hefney’s Ava’s Cuisine and Catering serves up soul food that she said feels like home cooking.
“It’s pretty much what raised me, what makes me who I am today,” said Hefney about the food she serves.
What started as a food truck to supplement Hefney’s high school teacher’s salary has grown to two locations and an event catering department. The flagship Greensboro take-out spot opened in 2023, and a dine-in location in Gibsonville in early 2025. Originally purchased as a catering kitchen, Hefney took one look at the Gibsonville property and decided it had potential and needed to serve customers.
Hefney’s business was named after her 8-year-old daughter Ava, which provides extra motivation to succeed.
“It puts a little bit more umph in my step each time I step into the doors because I know there’s a meaning behind it," Hefney said. They live by the mission statement of “fresh, innovative, personal,” and live to embody those traits every day.
Both Hefney and Garner attribute their success to the teams of people who work alongside them. Garner’s second location is dedicated to those stylists who provide services she herself can’t, so that anyone who comes through her doors can be serviced.
“We work together as a team to service the community, and we love what we do” Garner said.
While Hefney hops around locations and steps in when needed, she said she always tries to make time to connect with customers and employees.
“We are completely about community,” Hefney said, “We’re just one big family.”