Local salon owners open Bloom Zum!

The co-owners of John Edward Hair Salon and Les Champs Elysees Day Spa are putting the scissors and massage oils aside for their new business, Bloom Zum! This time, Margarete Disque and her mother, Donna, are focusing on the dance exercise known as Zumba.

Margarete said the dance exercise is a “hypnotic Latino” dance style designed to burn calories at a rapid rate — in her case, 600 to 700 calories per hour.

“It’s so boring to go to the gym and do the same thing with the same equipment,” Margarete said. “It’s nice to come to a place where you can just shake it.”

Donna, 54, said she and her 72-year-old mother — the grandmother of Margarete — both participate in the exercise.

“Zumba is starting to sweep the nation,” Donna said. “It is a really nice program that everyone can do.”

Indiana is currently one of the most obese states in the country, Donna said, adding that she hopes her business can help Hoosiers become more fit.

The Bloom Zum! facility covers about 6,000 square feet, which is enough to accommodate about 100 dancers at a time.

The size, Margarete said, ensures that there will be available space for everyone.
“If you plan your evening to the point where you’re going to go and work out and then you have to be turned away,” Margarete said, “that is like the total downer.”

Bloom Zum! unofficially opened its doors Monday, but the business’s marketing consultant, Lisa Morrison, said there’s definitely a “buzz” around the new business.
“They already have multiple instructors and an encouraging amount of people for classes,” Morrison said. “My hat’s off to them in opening Bloom Zum!”

Margarete said she currently has six instructors and is seeing about 30 people a day. Later, she expects to see more people, but for the time being, she’s more than satisfied with the clientele while she and her mother “work out the kinks.”

The official opening and ribbon-cutting is March 27. The event will be celebrated with Zumba demonstrations and a visit from Mayor Mark Kruzan.

Margarete said she hopes to see everyone, including the mayor, participate.
Despite the success of their salons, life for the mother-daughter duo wasn’t always manicures and new dance trends.

When Margarete was growing up, her parents owned a pig farm. Donna said Margarete had the world’s largest hog at the state fair.

But, Donna said, she thinks their agricultural roots got them to where they are today.
“It made us realize you really have to work hard to make things happen,” Donna said. “We’ve really been a great team.”