LE MARS, Iowa (AP) - Todd Anderson smiled at the photo sitting on the front desk at the Le Mars Beauty College.
“People ask if it’s one of my kids,” he said with a laugh. “No, that’s me as a teenager. With a mini-mullet and everything.”
Anderson knows a lot about hair. He’s been cutting and styling it for nearly 35 years.
Plus, he practically grew up at the beauty school, which has been in his family for 52 years.
When the final four Le Mars Beauty College students graduated last weekend, the school closed its doors for good.
“The industry was already changing when COVID hit,” Anderson told the Sioux City Journal. “The pandemic destroyed my classes last June. Last September, I only had three students. I needed at least 12 students to keep going.
“I was losing money but I stayed open until now so these last students could graduate,” he continued. “We owe that much to the students. We also owed it to our longtime customers.”
Located at 138 Central Ave. N.E., the stately, century-old building that houses the beauty school was originally the site of a Masonic Lodge, as well as an Aalfs manufacturing facility, before Roger Tyler turned it into a beauty college in 1964.
Anderson’s dad, Rod, had graduated from Morningside College with a business degree, but didn’t know what to do. His mom, Sheila, was already working as a hair stylist. That’s when Rod decided to enroll in the Tyler Beauty School.
Tyler was making plans to move to Arizona and wanted to sell the school.
“On the day my dad graduated from beauty college, he bought the school with a woman named Lee Russell, who was an instructor,” Anderson said. “That’s when Tyler Beauty School became the Le Mars Beauty College, in 1969.”
This was a busy time for the school, which regularly had an enrollment of up to 40 students, every semester.
Classes were just as big when Anderson became a student in 1986.
“The 80s were a crazy time,” he said, chuckling. “Everything was big back then. We went through a whole lot of Aqua Net in the day.”
When Lee Russell retired in the early 1990s, Anderson’s mom left her job as the stylist-owner of Le Mars’ Mantrap Hair Salon to become his dad’s business partner.
“Mom and dad did everything together,” he said. “It was inevitable that they’d run the school together.”
While his parents ran the Beauty College, Anderson purchased and operated Mantrap. After his dad suffered a stroke in 2013, Anderson took over the school.
“My mom retired to take care of my dad, who died a year after his stroke,” Anderson said.
By then, the hair styling industry had changed drastically.
“Soft hair took the place of big hair,” Anderson noted. “Plus, ladies stopped getting their hair done on a weekly basis because styles became more relaxed.”
Which isn’t to say Anderson doesn’t have customers who’ve been coming to the Beauty College for 40 years or more.
“I’ve had clients who were kids when my dad started cutting,” he said. “Now, we’re also cutting the hair of their grandkids.”
Henry Herrig, of Le Mars, was one of those stalwart customers.
“I’ve been getting my hair cut here for 45 years,” he said, wistfully. “This will be my last haircut at the Le Mars Beauty College.”
However, it is possible that Herrig might get his hair styled by Le Mars Beauty College alumni.
“While the school pulled plenty of students from the Le Mars area, we’ve had kids drive as far away as Sioux City, Sioux Center and Orange City to attend class,” Anderson said. “We’ve also had plenty of out-of-town customers as well.”
Since announcing the school’s closure, Anderson has been hearing from former students as well as customers, both past and present.
“It’s sad and it is the end of an era,” he said. “But we’ve had a very good run.”
Anderson said he hopes to sell the building, but Central Dance Academy, which rents the building’s upper level, is planning to stay.
“After Saturday, I’m planning on sanding the hardwood floors and, hopefully, get rid of some of the hair coloring off of the floor,” he said, grimacing a bit at the prospect.
Anderson also will continue to cut and style hair at Mantrap, which, at 125 Central Ave. S., is just across the street from the college.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.