Owner Dena Byers cited a few reasons for relocating, but at the top of the list was a desire for more room. The Clovis location provides an additional 500 square feet of space. This, Byers said, will allow Corky’s to expand its services and begin offering children’s manicures and pedicures in a makeshift castle — an ideal space for princess and prince parties.

The new location also has better parking, Byers said.

“It’s all around a better location for us,” she said.  

The castle component, which should be ready to launch in April, will enhance Corky’s philanthropic efforts.

“We donate hair to Wigs 4 Kids and we partner with the local Make-A-Wish and give donations to them,” Byers said. “A lot of these Make-A-Wish kids are going through chemotherapy so they don’t have hair. And while it’s great to donate to the organization, offering the manicures and pedicures gives us a way to bring them in here and do something for them as part of a makeover before they get their wish granted.”

Byers, a retired Clovis Police Officer, said she also supports active military personnel, police officers and first responders by providing a discount to their children, and on Veterans Day, one kid per each veteran family can receive a free haircut.

Unlike the average hair salon, Corky’s goes the extra mile to ensure each child has a beaming smile to match their new haircut at the end of their appointment.

Rather than sit in a traditional style swivel chair, kids get behind the wheel of miniature fire trucks, polices car and princess-themed convertibles while their hair is trimmed and styled.

To highlight its owner’s law enforcement background, Corky’s provides each young client with a special badge and free ride in a coin-operated cop car post-haircut. New customers are also given a fingerprinting and DNA kit to take home.

Byers said she doesn’t cut hair but said the children’s salon is a good venue to introduce kids to the role of a police officer and establish a good rapport with the community. The idea, Byers said, sprung from a children’s book she is working on writing about Corky, a kangaroo cop. The book is still a work in progress, she said, but the salon recently celebrated four years in business.

“If you told me five years ago I’d have a children’s hair salon, I would have thought ‘what?’ but now I love it,” Byers said.