Marsha Brown, Anita Boulais and Charlotte Hook of Headliners Salon and gift boutique opened for business at their 329 E. Dayton Drive location 12 years ago and have been hair stylists and co-workers for over 50 years.
“We’ve just been lucky that we’ve always been friends and always worked well together,” Brown said.
Currently the salon, a tiny postage-stamp cottage, glitters with lights, Christmas trees and holiday-themed decor, which Boulais half-jokingly said is all for sale. She mentioned that they change over the theme of the merchandise and decorations to suit the holiday or season.
Both Brown and Hook said that they went to work for Boulais at her salon shortly after finishing beauty school. Boulais said she purchased the salon (Chateaux Coiffures) from another friend and kept that name for five years. However, as times changed, they felt the name wouldn’t be very attractive to their growing male clientele.
Hook said that when they started out in the profession, the Ohio State Board of Cosmetology would not allow a hair stylist to cut men’s hair. “Barbers were allowed to cut women’s hair, but we were not allowed to cut men’s hair,” said Hook.
In the 1960s, when men’s hair styles got longer, Boulais said that they would make arrangements with hair stylists to come to the salon after hours to get their hair cut. “They didn’t want to go to the barber because they were afraid the barber would buzz it right off,” Boulais said.
Eventually the board relaxed regulations, and Brown said that they could cut men’s hair if they performed one other service such as a shampoo. Since the days of clandestine, after-hours trips to the salon were a thing of the past, men who wanted a salon cut were forced into the light of day.
The problem with that, Boulais said, was that men didn’t want to admit or be seen going to a place called Chateaux Coiffures. So they changed the name to Headliners and added a man on the logo.
They stayed at that location for 33 years until they had the opportunity to purchase their current location.
“We stood out in the parking lot and talked about it for over 40 minutes before we decided to make the purchase,” said Boulais.
She said when they moved into their new location they made a point to give it their own personal style, which led to the unique addition of the gift boutique. “We didn’t start out intending to have a boutique along with the salon, but people kept picking the decorations up and wanted to buy them. So, we let them.”
Through all of their time together the ladies of Headliners seem to agree that the main thing that keeps them coming back after all these years is their customers. “Many of them have been with us for 50 years and have brought their children and grandchildren. We have seen them graduate and get married. We even do their hair when they die. They have become like family to us,” Boulais said.
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