Local hair stylist Rita (Mangham) Wallace retired on December 29 and officially closed the doors of Rita’s Beaute’ Rama, a beauty shop that has been a mainstay on the Jackson Square for more than 50 years.
Wallace, 77, a native of Griffin, Georgia, moved to Jackson and opened the shop when she was just 23 years old. Her career as a stylist began when she was 15 years old when she began training under Billy Simmons and Doris Jones at Professional Beauty Shop in Griffin.
“My dad wanted me to go in the Army, but a family friend who was a hairdresser asked if I thought I’d be interested in becoming a cosmetologist. And, it beat going into the Army,” she said. “I had to get a work permit to work, and I made $7 a week. It was great because if I’d trained in beauty school, I would have had to pay them.”
After graduating from high school, she took her state boards and began working for Ann Snell who owned beauty shops in Griffin, Jackson and Zebulon.
When Wallace’s husband got a job offer at the Jackson Diagnostic Center, she bought the Jackson shop from Snell. She changed the name from Ann’s Beaute’ Rama to Rita’s Beaute’ Rama.
“It didn’t even occur to me that I wouldn’t do well,” said Wallace of her venture into owning her own shop. “It usually takes a while to build up a business, but the beauty shop was already set up here so it was a turnkey business.”
Some of her clients followed her to Jackson, but most of her clients were new to the shop. As with all beauty shops, Wallace suffered through low economic times and changes when stylists would come and go. At the store’s peak, Rita’s employed six stylists.
“I was busy. Most days I got off by 7 p.m., but some days I would work from 8 a.m. until 11 p.m.,” she said. “Back then, the bleaches didn’t work near as fast as they do now so it took hours to color hair. When my children came along, I cut my hours back some.”
Later on, Wallace, who had been leasing the space, bought the building from M.L. Edwards. In the mid-’90s, her husband Brent convinced her to shorten the shop’s name to Rita’s.
“We were painting the building, and he said it sounded old fogey and he convinced me to take it off,” she said.
Being a hairstylist is a physically straining job which requires her to stand a lot. Over the years, Wallace made adjustments to help lessen the stress on her body.
“When I was in my 30s, I started using a stool when I was doing perms,” she said. “And, I’d sit on the stool to cut the back and the sides. That’s probably why I was able to work for so long. The older you get, standing on your feet for a living, your knees and your ankles start giving out.”
Over the last few years, Wallace reduced her personal working hours in the shop to about five hours per day in an effort to keep herself healthy. She also began to reduce the number of days she worked from five to four and finally down to two.
For now, Wallace is enjoying working on projects and selling her beauty shop furnishings. She may sell the building in the future, but she’s not in any rush.
“I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my life, but God knew,” she said. “I have always trusted in Him. After all, He has the whole world in His hands.”
Credit: Jackson Progress-Argus
Credit: Jackson Progress-Argus
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