FORT MYERS, Fla., - Regency Beauty Institute, a popular beauty school chain, has shut down all 79 of its campuses - including its location in Fort Myers.
Students were given a two hour window to gather their personal items Thursday afternoon and will have another opportunity Friday as well before the school shuts its doors permanently.
"Everything seemed normal," said Amy Denham, a former student at Regency Beauty Institute. But she tells Fox 4 that on the third day of her classes, she got a text message that the school is closing.
"It was a shock to me. I couldn't sleep last night at all," Denham said.
The nationwide school with more than 50 years in business says that it "does not have the cash to continue to run the business."
Denham says she never saw it coming, "I thought here I am at a good school. That's why I picked it. And all of a sudden they close the doors."
But it wasn't just the cash. "Declining numbers of cosmetology students nationwide," is another reason why Regency Beauty Institute says it can't stay in business.
"There were only two students including myself that was going into the program," Denham said.
Regency Beauty Institute apologized for the shocking news in a statement on their website.
An apology that's difficult to accept for Denham who had spent time and money. "I'm just worried about what's going to happen next. What's the next step. What to do," Denham said.
Regency Beauty Institute did make it clear that it's not being forced to close down but that its efforts to keep the business afloat was unsuccessful. As of Denham, she plans to take time off to work before finding another program to help her pursue her dream of becoming a hair stylist.
