Sue Bergerson closes Butterfield hair salon after 36 years
The past 36 years have been “Golden” for Sue Bergerson – years spent at Sue’s Golden Comb in Butterfield serving area residents’ hair care needs.
The final hair cut was clipped, the last perm was applied and the farewell shampoo and set was given today (Wednesday, September 28), in Bergerson’s salon on Butterfield’s Hubbard Street.
Bergerson, of Mountain Lake, graduated from Mountain Lake Public High School in 1977, and attended Willmar Vocational/Technical Institute (today, Ridgewater College) for beauty school study from 1977-1978. “I was in one of the first classes taught to cut men’s hair,” Bergerson recalls. “I learned to cut men’s hair with a straight-edge razor.”
After working for a year at a barber shop in Lakefield, Bergerson had an interest in opening a salon in Butterfield. “I got a lot of help getting going from Wayne Kispert at the bank in Butterfield (Butterfield State Bank, now Triumph State Bank-Butterfield),” says Bergerson. “I gave him a phone call – and he gave me a chance by loaning me the money to start up. By the time I drove from Mountain Lake to Butterfield, he already had a building for me to use.”
For the first five years, Bergerson’s shop was located on 2nd Street, located in the Bedford building on the west side of the street. The move to Hubbard Avenue, on the same city block as Butterfield Foods, has proved to be “home” for the salon for the following 31 years.
Through the years, Bergerson added an extensive craft supply inventory for the wants of her creative customers.
Bergerson has accumulated many fond remembrances from over her nearly four decades keeping people from Butterfield beautiful. “Friday mornings in the past, I had 35 women in the shop at the same time for a shampoo and set – with one in the chair every 15 minutes,” Bergerson eagerly shares in a poignantly reminiscing tone. “They all wanted their hair done up for the weekend. There used to be four hairdryers going. It was hectic, but great. The coffeepot was always on, and my clients would take turns bringing in sweets to share. Most of those ladies are gone now; but the memories are so, so very special to me. I will never forget.”
Of late, Bergerson operated her shop only on Wednesdays after she took on the responsibility of a second job at Maynard’s Food Center in Mountain Lake. Although her own shop is closing, she is currently negotiating the possibility of operating a chair at Salon 310 in Mountain Lake, “one day a week at the max,” in order to be able to continue to serve her clientele.
Below is a chronicle of photos from the farewell day of Sue’s Golden Comb:
