There will be no more cuts or trims, perms or blowouts at Elgin’s Colonial Hairstyling come Saturday.
Co-owner Dan Gilmore is trading in his shears and clippers for a set of rods and reels, retiring after 55 years behind the chair. The “closed forever” sign goes on the front door of the 966 N. McLean Blvd. business Saturday afternoon, with his partner Kathleen Peve Nussbaum planning to open in a new spot in West Dundee.
“It’s just time. I still feel great,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore has spent his entire career at Colonial. He turns 78 Sunday and intends to spend a good portion of his time from here on out fishing.
He attributes his spryness to the fact the shop has wooden floors, which are easier on the legs than the concrete found at other places.
“I can still stand on my feet all day,” Gilmore said.
And that’s after decades of many 10-hour shifts during which Gilmore might work with 20 or more clients in one day.
Gilmore started in the profession at a time when a lot of men had long locks. These days styles are all over the map, but most of his customers seek shorter styles.
“Beards are big now too,” Nussbaum said.
Nussbaum cuts Gilmore’s hair, which he likes to keep neat and trimmed. His naturally curly hair would be out of control otherwise, he said.
Gilmore’s known by some for his love of the Chicago Cubs, which garnered some attention years back when Ron White, his then-fellow barber and former Colonial co-owner, was a big White Sox fan. Both men fitted out their respective stations, located across from each other at Colonial, with memorabilia promoting their respective teams and enjoyed exchanging good-natured barbs.
White had bragging rights when the Sox won the 2005 World Series, but left before Gilmore could lord it over him when the Cubs took the title in 2016.
White opened the shop in 1967 and Gilmore became a partner in 1969. Gilmore enjoyed the friendly banter, acknowledging that it’s part of what attracted to the profession in the first place.
“I like talking to people,” he said.
Nussbaum said getting to know Gilmore and his late wife, Carol, is what led her to become a partner in Colonial Hairstyling. It will be the end of an era when they close the business after 57 years.
Nussbaum moved to Elgin from southern Illinois in the 1980s. Already a stylist, she met the Gilmores through their mutual involvement with Elgin’s YMCA.
“I was working at another salon and building a network and clientele, including cutting hair at a YMCA camp,” she said. “Carol told me that Colonial was looking for another stylist. I started there in 1982 and became business partners with Ron and Dan soon after,” Nussbaum said.
She promised Gilmore she would close Colonial upon his retirement, Nussbaum said. She’ll open Kathleen’s Salon 82 at 315 N. Eighth St. in West Dundee on Monday. Colonial stylist Shelley Lose will join her as an employee.
The new digs are a suite inside a former bank building. The business’ name includes a nod to the year she started at Colonial, Nussbaum said.
“The Elgin area has been wonderful to me,” she said.
On Colonial’s last day, there will be a retirement party for Gilmore at 1 p.m. after he finishes his final customer. In the days leading up to it, longtime clients have been stopping by for a final cut and to wish him well, he said.
“Someone gave me this T-shirt,” he said of the shirt he was wearing. It features a play on the periodic table and proclaims the wearer to be the best “Ba Rb Er” ever.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
