From beehives to balayage

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/12/2021 (1383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Abby Kayer took her first steps at Terry’s Hair Salon and Spa, shuffling from one end of the room to the other. Now 20, Kayer is working alongside her mother and grandmother in the same place where cutting and styling hair was once reserved for playtime (and was carried out on a mannequin’s locks).

Kayer graduated from The Salon Professional Academy in August, although she’s trained around the 3304 Portage Ave. shop for many years, she said.

Elaine Bagu, the matriarch of the family, saw her first customer as a professional, in-studio hairstylist in 1983 at Nancy Anne Hair Designs. The turn-of-the-century two-storey heritage house was nestled behind the Winnipeg Art Gallery at 316 Colony St. Bagu keeps a framed photo of the shop at her work station.

Bagu bought Nancy Anne from the proprietor and took over. Considering the building’s heritage status at the time, Bagu did what she could to make Nancy Anne her own. That was, until the home was demolished around the time of the 1999 Pan American Games, Bagu said.

“They had bought so many old hotels around Winnipeg that they let them take it down,” she said. A high-rise apartment took its place.

Bagu has done hair for more than 50 years. She trained at Scientific Marvel Beauty School, sometimes known simply as “Marvel.” The school, which operated for 101 years in Winnipeg’s downtown, closed in 2017.

“I’ve always wanted to do hair — from the time I was 10 years old,” Bagu said.

When Bagu started doing hair, customers asked for the beehive and the bubble. The finger curls of the 1950s were still around but had given way to a more dramatic look. The most popular hairstyle clients ask for nowadays is balayage — a natural-looking, low-maintenance highlighting technique.

“Things have changed a lot,” Bagu said.

Big, choppy mullets and shags were the ticket at Nancy Anne in the 1980s. But, unexpectedly, shags and perms are making a comeback, the family agreed.

After the acquisition of Nancy Anne, Bagu purchased a second salon in the Fort Garry neighbourhood, before buying Terry’s Hair Salon and Spa in August of 1995.

Bagu’s daughter Teresa Kayer spent many of her formative years at the Colony Street salon, just like her daughter did at the current shop.

“I can’t imagine doing anything else but hair,” Teresa said. “It’s my dream.”

Bagu and Teresa zipped back and forth between the west Winnipeg and downtown shop for many years. Some customers who frequented Nancy Anne still have Bagu do their hair. The grandchildren of those original customers make their way down, too, Bagu said.

Terry’s Hair Salon and Spa has grown its crew to seven employees, including an esthetician and a massage therapist.

“We’re not just family, everybody’s family here,” Teresa said. “From one generation to the next, to the next.”

While the salon took a financial hit due to the pandemic, the support from the shop’s customers during the last couple of years has reinvigorated the family’s passion for the job.

“We know how much we’re loved. Everybody loves their hairdresser now,” Teresa said.