Salon owner finds success in hair care, gift shop
Thirty-two years ago this April, a single mother left her job at Cross Keys Salon on Brook Street to open her own salon.
Now, in her third location, Shirley Shaw owns and operates Hair A Fair on 300 South Avenue D in Burkburnett with two other stylists and an office manager.
In addition to her full-service salon that has employed up to 12 stylists, she runs a successful gift shop in the salon that specializes in Polish pottery.
Shaw said she loves cutting hair and getting to know the people that come into her shop. Over time that’s grown from her original customers to their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
She was born in Oklahoma and grew up in Wichita Falls, attending Miss Carter’s School of Beauty on Seventh Street downtown.
After graduating, she had a small salon in Abilene for a short time, but moved back to the area and did hair at Cross Keys for four years.
Shaw heard the owners of a new shopping center in Burkburnett’s Janlee Town wanted a beauty salon. She liked the nice, new property and many of her customers already lived in Burkburnett.
She had to convince her landlords to let her cut men’s — as well as women’s — hair.