Big Wig: Beauty supply store moves to larger Providence location
“Customers wanted more selection, so we needed a bigger, better place,” owner David Shim said. “With more space for my merchandise, I can give my customers more of a choice. I buy more, so I can pass the savings on to them and keep them happy.”
Shim said he plans to open a salon in an adjacent portion of the newly constructed building in the next two months.
AQ sells everything from wigs and hair products to make-up, handbags and even shoes.
“We hope that it is a one-stop shop, so we carry everything and specialize in wigs and hair extensions,” Shim said.
As you walk in the door, customers are greeted by a 48-foot-long wall that’s covered from floor to ceiling with hundreds of heads covered with wigs of every style and color imaginable. The handmade wigs — 500 in all — cost from $20 to $2,000 and in many cases are made from human hair.
“We have wigs for everyone here,” said Shim’s 14-year-old daughter Grace, who helps her dad run the shop after school.
“It’s not just for African-American people; we have a whole section of Caucasian wigs as well,” she added as she pointed to another floor-to-ceiling display of heads that includes bob cuts for redheads and long hair with bangs for blonds. “We have a lot of cancer patients from Ellis Fischel come in for wigs, and we even sell toupees for men.”
Shim’s family also owns a group of beauty supply stores in Kansas City. “The Columbia area doesn’t have many choices, and my store allows them to stay here and not spend money on gas to go to a bigger city to get what they need,” Shim said. “Now more customers come because the new location is easier to see and get to. Before, most people couldn’t see my old store on Park Avenue, and it was only the customers who knew about us in the neighborhood that came.”
The store is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 6 p.m. For more information call 573-449-2602.