Mary Olson retires from beauty shop

CRESCO - After more than 40 years in Cresco, Mary Olson of Mary’s Beauty Shop and her husband Wayne are beginning a new phase of their lives.

Mary Olson moved to Cresco in 1974 and opened her own beauty salon in 1976. Now, she and her husband are moving to Raleigh, N.C. to be closer to their daughter and grandchildren. 

Angie Lindstrom will take over Mary’s Beauty Shop in its current location at 222 North Elm Street. Kelly Praska will continue working at the salon.

The public is invited to an open house to say thank you and  goodbye to Olson and meet and welcome Lindstrom on Friday, Dec. 21 from 2-5 p.m. at Mary’s Beauty Shop. Cake and refreshments will be served.

Olson said the decision to retire from her salon and to leave Cresco was difficult but hastened by both her recent physical limitations and her desire to help babysit her grandchildren.

“I was in a car accident in 2016. A semi broadsided me at Davis Corners. They cut me out of the car, and I was taken by ambulance to  the hospital, and they said nothing was broken; I was very fortunate. I am thankful to be alive. My hip has bothered me since, and I have a torn rotater cuff but I chose not to repair it because the doctor said it was always going to hurt a little bit, and you can make other muscles work for you. So I have really struggled in the past two years.”

Olson knew her daughter Holly and son-in-law Will Garner were seeking a babysitter for their two children.

“The stress of not getting a babysitter is really hard. They had a wonderful nanny who was killed in a car accident.  I have a nine-year-old granddaughter Alleta and a seven-year-old grandson Everett.  It will be warmer in Raleigh and a great place to retire.”

Olson said she made her decision to move to Raleigh recently.

“On Nov. 26, I was supposed to fly to North Carolina, and my plane didn’t take off, so I was sitting there worrying about my kids and that was the day I made my decision,” she said. “Holly has been asking me to come, but I said I couldn’t come because my mother (Dorothy Bill) still lived here. My mom passed away a year ago in July.”

Once she made her decision, Olson took action:

“I called my landlord, Mark Schultz, and I asked him if I could leave the equipment, chairs and booths and he said he would love it if I did that because he would rent it out as a beauty shop. Kelly (Praska) who works with me didn’t want to take it over, so I called Angie Lindstrom, and she came and talked to me. She is going to keep Kelly on (at the salon) and customers may call the same phone number. 

“Angie told me it’s a dream come true, and I said it helped me out a lot. I worried what to do about my customers, because they all mean the world to me. I can’t leave them in a lurch. Angie is going to fill in my spot, and Kelly will still be here. One nice thing about this beauty shop is that customers can drive into the alley and leave their flashers on and their husbands can  bring their wives in if they have walkers or wheelchairs. This is a nice location and it’s very accessible for people.”

Olson said she understands her loyal customers’ concern about where to go after she leaves.

“People  tell me, ‘You can’t leave, because who am I going to go to?’ I said there are a lot of great beauty shops in Cresco but this way they can keep coming to the same building and that continuity is good for them.” 

In the past 45 years, Olson has acquired many special memories to carry with her as she moves to North Carolina:

“I’m really thankful for my customers. Vi Roman is 93 years old, and she was one of the first people I styled in Cresco. I did her hair at the Mirror Mirror Beauty Shop when I first came to Cresco in 1974. I remember going to one of my customer’s funerals, and I knew every one of her grandchildren at the funeral. They said, ‘How do you know all of them?’ and I said, ‘Grandma brought pictures into the salon every week’. 

“When you do somebody’s hair 52 times per year, you really get to know them, and they tell you everything sometimes. I have the best customers in town. They are very good people. I go and pick them up and bring them here if they don’t have a ride. I’ve gone to houses and done hair. I worked at the nursing homes and right now I do hair at the Patty Elwood Center.”

Olson said she appreciates helping her customers feel their best:

“Yesterday I did a perm and a color and she said, ‘Oh, you don’t know just how good this makes me feel,’ and the day before, I cut a lady’s hair that I cut a lot and she said, ‘Mary, you just took 20 years off of me’. It makes people feel good, and it has never seemed like a job to me.”

She is also thankful for the people who have worked with her over the years:

“I was above Vandy’s Shoe Store from 1976 until 2001. It was 22 steps up there and my older lady customers said, ‘There are so many stairs here; we thought we were going to Heaven.’ This building at 222 North Elm became available, and I moved here in 2001. Linda Souhrada worked with me for 23 years. Pat Bronner worked for me about 12 years and Sherri Slifka worked for me on and off for a year or two. Then Kelly came to work, and she’s worked 17 years.”

As she contemplates the new chapter in her life in Raleigh, Olson said it is possible she may find a volunteer position somewhere, but that right now, she is anxious to help her daughter and family and that another immediate goal is to learn a new language:

“I need to learn Spanish because both of my grandchildren speak Spanish fluently. They go to a Spanish immersion school so they are trying to teach me,” Olson said.

In the meantime, Olson is thankful for the many family members still in Iowa and in the Midwest region.

“My son James lives in Dubuque, but he just took some  stuff out (to Raleigh). I came from a big family; I have seven sisters and seven brothers and I am the middle child. I will miss my family because they live in the Riceville area. We all get together a lot. I will miss those opportunities, but I will fly home when I have to. I was flying to North Carolina three to four times per year before, and Kelly would do all of my customers while I was gone.”

She also has fond memories of raising her family in Northeast Iowa.

“I grew up in Riceville and have been in Cresco since 1974, so Northeast Iowa has been home. Cresco was a home for my children. They had a wonderful experience here and are glad they were raised here,” she said.

As Mary and Wayne prepare for the move to Raleigh, Mary recalls a recent conversation with her granddaughter:

“My granddaughter told me, ‘When you move here, you can sleep with me every night.’ I told her, ‘Yes, but sometimes you kick and then Grandma has to get up and go to a different bed,’” She said, ‘I don’t do that anymore, Grandma.’”

“They are really excited for me to see them,” Olson said. “This is going to fill my heart.”