WHEN RIK AND RAQUEL WATTERS met 25 years ago, far more than a romantic connection sparked. Raquel had a successful clothing store in Coral Gables and worked frequently with her future husband, a leading stylist in a salon she hired to do hair and makeup for her models. When the two got together, the concept for Miami’s mega-salon Rik Rak was born.
While Rik is known as the go-to guy for the perfect blond coif, as evidenced by his wife’s perfectly golden locks, Raquel keeps the store stocked with style.
The pair fused together their respective personal passions for design and beauty and steadily expanded into an all-encompassing salon, boutique and bar—frequented by Miami’s most beautiful and fashion-forward crowd.
The first task for Raquel in materializing her vision for a combined salon and boutique was getting her husband Rik on board.
“One day I just went and ordered some earrings and bracelets and they sold out, and he said ‘Oh, this is a great business,’” Raquel said.
Rik Rak subsequently grew in size and concept. The main location on Brickell Avenue is a salon, boutique and bar; there are also two other Rik Rak locations in Miami, one in the Four Seasons Hotel, and at the JW Marriot Marquis. Rik and Raquel work together to continuously evolve the Rik Rak experience and keep their über chic clientele, which includes celebrities like Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Aniston,coming back.
While Rik is known as the go-to guy for the perfect blond coif, as evidenced by his wife’s perfectly golden locks, Raquel keeps the store stocked with style.
“For the fall I am focusing on the big sweaters, leggings; I carry Donald J Pliner shoes for men, and Lisa for Donald J Pliner ladies shoes” she said. “I have the faux fur coats, fun stuff like scarves and the little sexy dresses for holiday parties. It’s just fun merchandise that you can buy on an impulse, because it’s not overly pricey. So a woman can come in for a manicure and see this cute dress and it’s affordable. That’s what we’re about—very trendy, very cute, very sexy.”
Rik Rak also carries an array of beautiful accessories–multi-chain necklaces, colorful stones, big cocktail rings, bangles, pearls–if it’s on trend and beautiful, it can be found at Rik Rak.
As for the best beauty treatments, Rik Rak does that too.
“The Kérastase conditioning treatment is phenomenal,” Raquel said. A fit and active Miami clientele wash and style their hair often, which can take its toll.
Raquel swears by this treatment to renew and prevent frizz in the humid Miami climate. The salon also offers a formaldehyde-free Keratin treatment and an on-the-fly anti-frizz treatment dubbed “botox for hair.”
But it wouldn’t truly be a one-stop-shop if the clients could not pamper themselves inside and out. Enter the Rik Rak bar.
“At the old salon, we didn’t have a bar or anything; it was just the salon. I would always make espressos or cappuccino for my clients and then it got out of hand–they would be like, ‘Oh, can I have another?’ And I was like, ‘Whoa! I don’t have time,’” Raquel said. “So when we moved into our new space, it was big, really big. It was actually bigger than what we needed so my husband said, ‘Why don’t we do a coffee bar?’”
What seems to be a theme in the couple’s business strategy, this idea simply took off, expanding along the way. They started serving beer and wine and soon they had a café. They recently expanded the space to the terrace, which opened its doors just this December.
“It faces Brickell Avenue and it is just wonderful,” Raquel said of the new terrace. “I think it’s a lot of fun because being in Miami with this weather, you should be outdoors. From the terrace you’re overlooking the beautiful people and the fantastic highrises. It’s great because the women come and instead of having to order lunch out, they can order gourmet omelets, salad or sandwich, whatever they want; [they] can have a glass of wine all while they get their highlights done.”
Sounds like the best of full service to us.
