Glamor Beauty Supply in Oakland set to close after nearly 40 years
Former longtime employee Rhicko Barton (left) and Glamor Beauty Supply owner Linda Song.
OAKLAND, Calif. - Glamor Beauty Supply in Oakland, one of the East Bay's oldest shops of its kind, is closing just as soon as all the shampoo, color and hair products are gone.
That's because Linda Song, owner of the Temescal neighborhood store – a fixture on Telegraph Avenue for nearly 40 years – is finally retiring at age 82.
Song, who didn't want to be interviewed, noted the change in the retail landscape since the pandemic as a reason for her decision, her family noted.
She opened the shop in the 1980s with her husband, Frank, who died in 2011.
After his passing, she continued to run the business on her own, with the beauty store keeping her busy and youthful, even during her darkest times, her family said.
"It's sad," longtime employee Carol Ju, 64, said on Tuesday. "This is a really good location. But Linda wants to retire. Her children want her to retire. You know, owning a store and the building, there's a lot of headache."
Ju said that customers have been coming in to buy products before they go out of business.
"A lot of customers told me they almost wanted to cry," said Sandra Marabilla, an employee of 24 years. "They have a lot of memories here."
Marabilla said she's personally not ready for the store to shut its doors, but she knows that her employer is.
She and Song have grown quite close.
"I loved coming to this job," she said. "It felt like I was home."
Rhicko Barton, a longtime former employee, had grown quite close to the Songs while she worked at Glamor Beauty, too.
She learned Korean and even went to Korea with the family in the 2000s on a family trip.
The Songs immigrated to Illinois, and then the Bay Area, from Korea in the 1960s and soon opened their store. They were savvy in business, having owned clothing stores, as well.
Glamor Beauty Supply is widely known for its large selection of wigs, a wide variety of beauty essentials, and warm, familiar faces behind the counter.
The shop has even attracted some stars, including actor Danny Glover, Oakland A's great Rickey Henderson, and En Vogue.
And that's despite the old-school shop having virtually little to no online presence nor an advertising budget.
Customers learned of the pending closure through word of mouth.
"I can’t believe it! Dang! What a career! What a legacy! What an Oma!" one customer wrote on an employee's Facebook page.
Another customer wrote: "Wow, an Oakland staple."
EDITOR'S NOTE: KTVU employee Sharon Song's mother, Linda Song, owns Glamor Beauty Supply.