A group of former employees at Currie Hair, Skin & Nails is demanding answers and thousands of dollars in unpaid wages following the sudden closure of the popular Philadelphia-area salon chain earlier this summer.

The stylists held a protest Tuesday morning outside the Hotel Du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware, where the company recently reopened one of its locations. They said the relaunch is a slap in the face to those left jobless and unpaid.

"This is not the first time you didn't pay us and you know it," stylist Kimberly Pini, who worked at Currie's Glen Mills location for 32 years, said.

Pini said she learned she was out of a job through an email and received no severance or final paycheck.

"The salon was my life," Pini said. "My daughter grew up there. I thought that I would end my career there. It's been devastating and hard, but now we're angry."

At its peak, Currie Hair, Skin & Nails operated in five locations — Glen Mills, Kennett Square, Wayne and two in Wilmington, serving clients across Pennsylvania and Delaware. But stylists said owner Randy Currie never informed them about the business's financial troubles, including unpaid rent and other debts, before abruptly shutting down all five salons on June 27.

"We would have done anything to help save the business," said Pini. "But he didn't even give us the opportunity or the respect to be honest with us."

Randy Currie declined an interview with CBS News Philadelphia but in a statement, said: "The recent closures of our salons caused real pain for our employees, our guests, and our community. I understand that, I take full responsibility and I am working to make things right."

"We are in the process of reopening our Hotel Du Pont location as part of the plan to repay back wages, settle obligations, and begin repairing relationships," he continued. "I know it will take time, but I am committed to doing the work."

But former stylist David Bakey said reopening a new salon without paying former staff is unacceptable.

"How about he takes the money he used to open this salon and pay us first, and then move on with his life?" Bakey said. "How about giving us an opportunity to move on with our lives?"

The former employees also allege Currie continued to sell gift cards just weeks before shutting down, despite knowing the business was in trouble.

"He owes clients thousands of dollars," Pini said. "He had a gift card sale on April 30, and he knew he was going out of business. That's not integrity."

The stylists said they will continue to protest weekly outside the Hotel Du Pont until they receive the wages they are owed.

"We're going to sue him," Pini said. "We have a complaint with the Department of Labor, and we've hired a lawyer to go after him for our pay."

For many of the stylists, losing their jobs was only part of the heartbreak. They said the salon wasn't just a workplace; it was a second home. Over the years, they built close bonds with coworkers who became like family.

Now, with the salons shuttered and employees scattered, that tight-knit community has been fractured.

"When I didn't have anything in my life, I had Currie," stylist Christine Raimato Boub said. "And now I don't have that."