By Sheila McLaughlin
The Cincinnati Enquirer

SYMMES TWP. - Want a Mondavi with that massage? A crew and a brew? And after you're done, a six-pack to go?

If Greg Dougherty has his way, those may be some of the things offered to customers at his men-only You Guys salon on Montgomery Road.

"The idea is for the guys to have a place where they can relax, wind down and escape the stressful world that we live in," said Dougherty, who with his wife, Donna, opened You Guys last February.

But seven months after opening, Dougherty finds himself trying to keep his customers happy after a state crackdown in Greater Cincinnati that forced salons to stop a long-standing practice of quietly offering a nip to their clients.

"It's one of those things that if nobody sees it as being wrong or identifies it as being wrong, we might never have found out about it," said Brent Devery, agent-in-charge of the Ohio Department of Public Safety's local investigative unit.

Now the Doughertys and other salon owners, aided by a lawmaker who frequents a Kenwood salon that was the first target in the crackdown, are lobbying Columbus for legislation that would allow them to serve alcohol to customers. The Doughertys said they are laying the groundwork to stay legal and ultimately offer more than any new law would intend.

The Doughertys have applied for licenses that would allow them to sell carryout beer, wine and mixed beverages, as well as "tastings" - defined by law as up to eight ounces a day for each patron. Beer and wine would be for sale to people who aren't regulars as a way to draw in new customers, Dougherty said. The carryout permits are required to qualify for the license to offer tastings. To be eligible for tastings, You Guys must stock 60 percent of its inventory in wine, state officials said.

"A lot of our clientele consider themselves wine connoisseurs. That's what our clientele wants. That's what they're into - wine and cigars," said Donna Dougherty, who is also a stylist at the salon.

Until recently, Dougherty said he was unaware that he couldn't offer alcoholic beverages to customers without liquor permits, or that they couldn't even carry in their own drinks.

Apparently none of the other salon owners did either.

Mitchell's Salon & Day Spa in Kenwood was the first salon to get a visit from state liquor agents last January after Devery said his agency received a complaint. That touched off an investigative chain reaction in Greater Cincinnati, resulting in warnings to 27 salons to quit serving alcohol or risk being cited or shut down.

In an unrelated case, Cincinnati police and state liquor agents stopped the men's clothing department at Saks Fifth Avenue in July from serving free drinks to customers.

Until January, customers who indulged in spa packages at Mitchell's could also indulge in a little wine and cheese. Now they're getting cheese and sparkling cider, said Mitchell's owner, Deborah Mitchell Schmidt.

"It was something that clients really enjoyed that unfortunately someone decided to bring to the attention of the department of safety," Schmidt said.

State Rep. Michelle Schneider, R-Madeira, is a customer of Mitchell's in Kenwood and is working on legislation on the subject.

Karen Welch, who owns Bajon Salon in Montgomery and West Chester, said her clients have been understanding about the new prohibition. "They didn't like it, but they understood," she said.

But customer Andy Cosgrove misses Men's Day on Fridays at Bajon, where he found beer and pretzels in the lobby when he arrived from his job in Groesbeck.

"I thought it sucked," Cosgrove said "It's not like they were getting people plastered and pushing them out on the street."

Welch and Schmidt said they have looked into getting liquor licenses for their salons. For Schmidt, there were none available in any of her five store locations, except Northgate. Welch said it doesn't fit well with her business.

Even Dougherty's venture met resistance from township trustees, who initially asked for a public hearing before the Ohio Division of Liquor Control as the first step in trying to block his liquor permits.

Trustee Kathy Wagner said she remains leery.

"We don't want anything risque coming into the township," she said.

But after meeting with Dougherty and learning that he was involved in a legislative push to help the industry, township officials backed off.

"It's unusual," Township Administrator Gerald Beckman said.

"He's thinking outside the box and that's why we, who think inside the box, are suspicious."

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E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com