DAYTON — Hundreds of Miami Valley cosmetology students learned Tuesday that their school has closed for good, after the owner of the Creative Images Institute of Cosmetology said he is out of money and would need almost $2 million to keep it going, WHIO News Center 7 reported. The school locked its doors Tuesday, and the Ohio State Cosmetology and Barber Board said it was one of two locations that went out of business, according to WHIO.
News Center 7 reported hearing from more than a dozen students on Tuesday, many of them devastated and confused — especially those who were days or months from graduation. “Heartbroken, like my heart got ripped out from under me,” student Makayla Kenley told WHIO News Center 7. “My feelings are everywhere. I’m feeling a bit of everything,” Johna Webb told WHIO, and Paula Woodward told WHIO, “I feel bad; somebody’s supposed to graduate on Thursday.”
President and CEO Charles Gross told WHIO News Center 7 that the school’s money problems started in 2020, when COVID hit. Last month, he said, his bank told him it would no longer loan him any more money, and on Monday he decided he had no choice but to close. “If I brought in $1.7 million, it would change the ratio; everything would go away,” Gross told WHIO…