S M A L L
B U S I N E S S
C E N T R A L
Gould’s
Family business has been doing it in style for 86 years.
David and Philip Gould
B Y
C I N DY
W O L F F
Stylists at Gould’s Salon Spa have washed and coiffed millions of heads of hair in the 86 years since Sam Gould opened his first salon, yet no Gould has ever touched a strand of hair. Instead, Gould and his sons, Philip and David, focused on building an iconic name in the local hairstyling and pampering industry that now employs 450 in its 11 salons, six full-service spas, and two education academies. But even though it’s the largest hair and spa business in the area, don’t call it a “chain.” “We don’t like the word ‘chain,’” says Philip Gould, who co-owns the “multistore, small business” with his younger brother, David. “A chain is when you walk into one store and they look like all the others — a cookie-cutter like [national chains] Fantastic Sam’s or Supercuts.” “We’re local. I buy local,” David says. “I buy local,” Philip echoes. “We eat at Elwood’s Shack. We 52 |
go to Bryant’s Breakfast. We eat and shop as much as we can from local, independent operators. A lot of people do. It’s a source of pride.” David insists on making an important distinction: “Our competitors like to say, ‘oh they’re corporate.’ No! We’re family. We’ve just got more than one location.” The company opened the first Gould’s Academy in 2011 in Park Place Center. Over the next six years, more than 200 students graduated with training as styl-
ists or the various positions in the spa. The second academy opened in December in Bartlett to attract students who live in that part of Shelby County. “We created schools so we could find people to hire,” Philip says. “As our salon and spa business continued to grow, we felt there was a need for better education in this market because we couldn’t get good stylists out of school,” Philip says. “They weren’t ready for us. We talked about it for some time and the opportunity presented itself.” Sam Gould opened his first salon in 1932. He was an itinerant vaudeville drummer who returned home to settle down as the house drummer for the Orpheum Theater. That was his night job. He wanted something to do in the daytime like run a business. Sam took a cosmetolog y
course but decided he wasn’t good at it, Philip says. Instead, he chose to operate a salon business and hire hairstylists. In 1932, he opened a small beauty shop on the first f loor of the Parkview Hotel, now the Parkview Retirement Community. As business grew, he added
“WE EAT AND SHOP AS MUCH AS WE CAN FROM LOCAL, INDEPENDENT OPERATORS. A LOT OF PEOPLE DO. IT’S A SOURCE OF PRIDE.” a second location at Kimbrough Towers and then a third in Poplar Plaza. This location became the signature store and business headquarters. Sam wanted each location to have a distinctive feel and his wife, Lila — David and Philip’s mother — took
PHOTOGRAPH BY KAREN PULFER FOCHT
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