Sue and Sandy’s Closed Forever
By Bonita Wilborn
On Friday, January 8, 2021, a long time business in Rainsville closed its doors for the final time. Sisters Sandy Deerman Cook and Sue Deerman Johnson were the offspring of long time business owners, also here in Rainsville, Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Deerman. They ran a “Dry Goods” store originally located near present-day City Hall. The basement of the building contained a beauty shop.
Sue commented, “Mother had three sisters, and all three of them had Beauty Shops here in Rainsville. I started at age 15 by taking a course in school. ”
Sue and Sandy both spent lots of hours in the Beauty Shop with their aunts. They grew up helping out by standing on a Coke crate to shampoo customers’ hair. Both women commented that fixing hair was all they ever wanted to do.
“Even at a very young age,” Sandy recalled, “I would go home from school and fix the hair of my dolls.”
During my visit with Sue and Sandy, both ladies recalled valued customers they’ve had the privilege of working with over the years. Both remembered many customers coming to their beauty shop for almost their entire career. Their customer base was many and varied, with some of their long-term customers being school teachers and former mayors.
In years past, Sue and Sandy enjoyed attending Hair Shows several times a year. They attended shows in Birmingham, Nashville, and Knoxville, where they would learn how to perform the newest hairstyles.
When asked about their reason for closing the beauty shop at this particular time, Sandy explained, “COVID helped bring it on. Also, we got an offer to lease the building, so we just thought it was time to quit.”
Although the ladies grew up in Rainsville, Sandy has lived in Guntersville for the past 20 years. She has driven back to Rainsville to work at the beauty shop, five days a week for all of those years until COVID mandates paused that daily commute for her.
Sue added, “I loved my job, but what I’m going to miss is the people.”
Sue and Sandy are both very active and lively individuals that participate in line dancing, enjoy traveling, and spending time with their families. They are both uncertain at this time just what all their new chapter of life will involve, but they are looking forward to whatever comes their way.
As fate would have it, both Sue and Sandy had one long-term customer that came to the already closed beauty shop on Tuesday, January 12, for a final haircut. Sandy’s final customer was Keith Williams. Sue’s final customer was Roy Sanderson.
Mountain Valley News would like to say congratulations and good luck with whatever your future holds.
Sue and Sandy’s Closed Forever