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Biz Buzz shares business tidbits from across the tri-states. In addition to this update from Cuba City, Wis., we will feature developments from other area businesses in Tuesday’s edition.
CUBA CITY, Wis. — A longtime Cuba City barber hung up her shears this weekend.
Joanie Von Glahn, who has operated Joanie’s Hair Repair at 105 S. Main Street for the past 36 years, worked her final day on Saturday.
Her retirement marks the end of a 53-year career as a barber, a career she had pursued since her childhood in Shullsburg.
“I wanted to be a barber because I didn’t want to do perms and hair colors and all that stuff. I just wanted to cut hair,” she said.
Von Glahn, now 73, graduated from the barbering program at Madison Area Technical College — then known as the Madison Vocational School — in 1968.
“Women were not barbers in those days, so I was one of three women in my class,” she said. “The rest were all men.”
After graduating, she took a job with Frank Williams at Frank’s Barbershop in Platteville. She later worked in Cuba City, Shullsburg and Darlington before opening Joanie’s Hair Repair, where she has remained ever since.
In addition to her work as a barber, Von Glahn has become well-known in Cuba City for the newspaper clippings and local sports memorabilia that adorn the walls of her shop. The framed articles are a snapshot of local successes in a wide range of sports, including basketball, wrestling, gymnastics and more.
“I’m a historian, and I love that kind of stuff,” she said. “People love coming in and reading my walls.”
She was relieved to learn that local hairstylist Michelle Kuster of Hometown Hair Studio, who will be taking over the business, loves the walls as much as she does.
“That really tickled me that she was as pleased about it as I am,” Von Glahn said. “I want her to take really good care of it.”
As she reflects on her half-century career behind the barber’s chair, Von Glahn said she will most miss the people and the relationships she’s formed along the way.
“(I’ll miss) seeing them every day and visiting with them, because they’re not only your customers, they become your friends,” she said.