In the center of it all: Terry talks business, family, and ribbon cutting event on Nov. 19

By Lauren Becatti | The Shelby Independent

From left, Bailey, Stella, Jada, Charlette, Sara, Addi, Morgan, Sandy and Kaitlyn of Center City, formerly Hats Off Salon. Submitted courtesy photo

To celebrate Charlette Terry's purchase and rebranding of Center City Salon (formerly Hats Off Salon), there will be a ribbon cutting ceremony Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m.

The staff will be present for a meet-and-greet, and there will also be vendors present, along with refreshments and a chance to see the studio.

Terry, who has owned the salon for a few months now, decided to adjust to things before celebrating. “So now we're kind of ready to celebrate that and have fun and have people come in and meet us” she explained. 

Terry has been at Hats Off for 12 years, but she started working in the hair industry in 2006. Her roots in the field go back even farther. Her grandfather was a barber for 40 years. When she was growing up, the school bus would drop her off at her grandfather's shop. Terry said even though he was a barber, she learned a lot about business from him, especially his customer service and consistency. She also has several other relatives that are/were in the hair industry, as she noted, “It’s definitely in the family... I had all this inspiration and had a lot of people that I looked up to in this world."

Sandy Edwards and Charlette Terry photos by Megan Bridges

After a long time working at the salon, Terry ended up buying the salon from the previous owner, Sandy Edwards. Terry met Edwards many years ago, and Edwards showed her around Hats Off Salon as it was still being built. At the time it was just a gutted building.

At the time, Charlette Terry couldn’t see the vision like Edwards did. However, after lots of prayer and talking to her husband Josh, she decided that she would come to work for the salon as soon as it opened.

“It just felt like it was the right thing to do," she explained. "I was being so drawn to this place for some reason.” 

This salon was Edward’s vision and she created it. However, a few years ago, Edwards started to think about retiring. Terry was the senior stylist, and the opportunity fell into her lap. Terry said when asked if she wanted to buy the salon, she was not interested at all.

Well, time goes by and Sandy Edwards asked again, as Charlette noted, “I guess she saw something in me that I didn’t see.”

After turning Edwards down more than once, Charlette Terry finally decided to just talk to Edwards about it and see what it would look like. Terry realized that she really liked the salon and was worried that if someone bought it, they might change the things that made her love the salon so much. It made sense for her to buy the salon because she was the senior stylist.

“After a very, very long conversation with my husband, we decided that we should do this. We should buy the salon. And it would be an investment, and we were up for the challenge, and we felt like we could do it. So we did it. Here we are!” Terry said. “It's almost like she's kind of passing on the torch to me to keep up what she started.”  

Her family has shown their unwavering support through the purchase. “The first weekend we bought the salon we came over here on that Sunday after church and we cleaned the whole entire salon," Terry said. "I had the kids in here sweeping and mopping and it was so funny. But they did not care one bit. They were just happy to help.”

Terry wants her kids to feel like they are a part of this, as does her husband Josh, who has filled in as a receptionist, doing the laundry and running errands. He also helps fix and move things in the salon and helped her decorate. “Just having that support from your partner is huge,” she added. 

Terry cares a lot about her customers and does a lot to serve the community. She said that she loves the connections they have with people at the salon. All the customers and stylists make the salon such a good environment. She said she never wakes up dreading going to work. 

She also cares so much for the community and is dedicated to doing what she can to improve it. Terry has donated her time and salon services to the less fortunate in our community including cancer patients, homeless, and foster children, and she is dedicated to continuing helping in the future, “And whatever that looks like, or whatever it is presented to us, we're always open to it.” Terry mentioned she would also love to collaborate with other local salons so that they can all support each other. 

Charlette Terry and the other stylists are on top of the industry, and she is excited to see what the future holds for the salon. They keep an eye on what is trending and learn how to do it so that they can offer the best service for their customers and give them exactly what they want. She is also open to growth. They currently have nine stylists, but the salon has enough room to add two more stylists that share in Center City's values of growth, education, always improving, keeping up with the current trends and kindness. It’s very important to her that any new stylists share the same values. 

To learn more about Charlette Terry's Center City Salon, check out their social media pages for Facebook and Instagram, or visit their location at 210 S Lafayette St, Shelby.

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Laurauren Becatti occasionally writes for the Shelby Independent, as her schedule allows it.