Shear longevity: Hair Etc. celebrates 50 years of business
When Tom and Sue Millersmith opened Hair Etc. on the corner of Francis and Nevada on April 1, 1975, haircuts cost $4.50.
“We stayed open till 9 at night,” said Sue Millersmith. “No one else did.”
Much has changed over the past 50 years. Businesses around them have come and gone. Traffic has increased. However, the biggest change occurred when Tom died in 2022.
The Millersmiths’ daughter, Shawna Rieper, stepped in when he retired and now manages the salon.
“Dad retired at 80 and passed away at 84,” she said. “My sister and I grew up here. I remember roller skating through here.”
The busy shop employs six stylists and three receptionists and is filled with antiques Sue Millersmith has collected.
She rested her hand on the back of an oak barber chair.
“Tom worked out of this his whole career.”
Made by Koken Barber Supply Co. and patented in 1895, the chair with its carved oak frame, features nickel plate trim.
Several back bars or mirror cases serve as stylist stations. Used in saloons and barbershops from the 1880s to the early 1900s, these pieces are quite rare, and one has a local connection.
“This ornate two-chair back bar is from Andy Anderson’s barbershop in Hillyard,” Millersmith said.
The vintage pieces seem especially appropriate in a salon celebrating its half-century mark.
“We’ve been in business for 50 years because we’ve had wonderful customers,” Millersmith said.
She’s referring to people like Eugene Bevaqua, who knew Tom from his pre-salon days.
“We railroaded together,” Bevaqua said. “He was a good friend.”
So, of course, he was one of the first customers of Hair Etc.
“Stacy cuts my hair – she’s heard all my stories,” he said. “I come in and ask, ‘How’s my intersection?’ “
Things are always hopping at the busy corner of Francis and Nevada.
Mary Madunich has been getting her hair done at the salon since the mid-80s and met the Millersmiths through her work at Spokane Schools.
“I worked for District 81 in the Project Wage program for many years,” she said.
The program’s goal was to help low-income kids find part-time jobs.
“Tom and Sue came to the class and gave haircuts, and personal hygiene and interview tips for free,” Madunich said. “They were kind of an ‘it couple.’ I wanted to go to their salon, and I’ve been there ever since.”
It’s not just the customers that stay – so do the employees. Millersmith said several stylists at Hair Etc. have worked there for 30-plus years.
Cindy Bailey is one of them.
“I’ve worked here for 30 years,” she said. “We’ve all known each other for so many years . It’s like family.”
Jill Votava, who’s worked there since 1987, echoed that sentiment.
“This is the best place to work,” she said. “It’s all about the relationships.”
Hairdresser Stacy Thompson is still at her first job.
“I was 19 when I started,” she said. “It was my first job right out of beauty school. I’ve been here 35 years.”
She’s watched her customers’ kids grow up and still has clients from those early days.
The hairdressers have watched trends come and go over the years. While once they kept tabs on styles and techniques at hair shows , now they follow accounts on Instagram.
Bailey mentioned that long hair styled with loose curls is trending for women.
They all agree they’re happy to see bowl cuts and mullets for boys go by the wayside but pointed out that a modified mullet is currently on the rise.
Brightly colored dyes prove popular, but permanents are out.
“In the late ’70s and early ’80s, I’d do six perms a day,” said Millersmith. “Now, instead of perms, it’s foils and colors.”
Thompson laughed.
“So many spiral perms!”
She still relishes her time at the salon.
“I worked right next to Tom for years,” she said. “He was a great mentor and a great person.”
His absence is keenly felt.
“I really wish Tom was here to celebrate – this was his home away from home,” Millersmith said.
But another generation may be poised to step in.
“My 7-year-old daughter loves cutting hair,” Rieper said. “She says, ‘When I grow up, I’m going to be a vet or a hairdresser!’”