There aren’t too many businesses that provide a service free of charge. But Bombaii Cutters salon owner Debbie Lamont says that there are just some things that are more important than money.

“We have some people who come in who are undergoing chemotherapy and I am not one to benefit from someone else’s misfortune,” said Lamont, who’s salon has offered to cut cancer patients hair for free. “They are already financially distracted. It is just something that we have done through the years.”

For more than 10 years the high-end salon has helped people battling cancer and the idea of Karma is not lost in the salon with its Indian decor. Lamont’s compassion and caring for her clients and the community has come back to the life-long Kirklander over the years, as Bombaii Cutters celebrated its 30th anniversary Nov. 15.

“I am the longest single business owner in Kirkland as far as I know,” said Lamont. “We have at least 50 people who have been with us since that first year.”

Those first months were not the easiest, despite paying just $200 a month for rent in 1979.

“I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I started renting this place,” said Lamont, who attended Lake Washington High School. “It was a barber shop, but when I started renting it had been a Salvation Army dump spot where they would store stuff.”

Lamont had a rough time getting the location to look like a barber shop again.

“The walls were so bad we couldn’t paint them white,” said Lamont. “There was a toilet right in the middle of the floor.”

Finding a good name for the business was almost as difficult.

“I was originally going to call it Moss Bay Cutters but someone told me that there was another salon with that name that the owner had gone to jail,” said Lamont, who had settled on her logo, a peacock with scissors.

When she was at a party she noticed a bottle of Bombay Gin.

“I liked the name Bombaii and with the peacock being a good luck symbol in India it was a good fit,” said Lamont. “But I couldn’t name it after gin.”

But then Lamont took notice of an old sign that used to be on Northeast 85th Street that read “Kirkland: the sailing capitol of the Northwest.”

“And then I saw a sailing book at a friend’s house with ship called the Bombaii Cutter,” said Lamont. “And that was it.”

Prior to owning the business, Lamont was a successful model for more than 10 years. She modeled for such companies as Max Factor, Eddie Bauer, Weisfield Jewelers, the Bon Marche, Vegematic, was a Chevy Pit Crew girl and had a long run as a hand and foot model.

“Those hands on the ATM commercials were mine,” said Lamont.

The money made from modeling put her through cosmetology school and started the salon.

She said that she has weathered many issues concerning downtown Kirkland but is now having a very difficult time with the lack of parking.

“The city used to be very business friendly,” said Lamont. “But they are doing everything they can to chase us out. I can’t start over.”

Lamont’s customers have been loyal. The feel of India in the salon has been perpetuated by her clients.

“All the pictures and animals in the shop have come from clients,” said Lamont. “I have memories all around from different people.”

In 2005 Lamont remodeled the salon and expanded from 400 to 800 square feet.

“When we started we only had two old-fashioned barber chairs,” said Lamont. “Now we have eight chairs.”

The remodel also allowed Lamont to go more upscale and offer more high-end services. But her clientele is as broad as ever, serving newborns up to one client that is 101 years old. Her 12 employees also help, and in some cases, escort older customers from local retirement communities to and from the shop. And the shop is open seven days a week.

“We get 150-200 walk-ins a month,” said Lamont. “You don’t need a reservation here.”

Lamont also has an apprentice most of the time. And although a back injury forced her to stop cutting hair herself, many of her customers still come in for her friendship.

“There is just something about a scalp massage and a really good hair cut,” said Hardy Wood, who has been coming to Bombaii Cutters since 1980 and even helped Lamont do some electrical work and install an air conditioner.

But of all her customers, one touched her heart the most by just paying her bill.

“She said ‘I insist on paying for my service this time, I am cancer free,'” said Lamont, whose own mother and father died of cancer.

Bombaii Cutters is located at 122 Kirkland Avenue. Call 425-828-4411.