Sears announced it was closing its doors in the Avalon Mall in St. John’s just a few weeks ago, but some employees jumped ship to find new work even earlier.
Lori Scaplen, Joy Mercer and Regina Walsh have a combined 99 years of work at the Sears Hair Studio in the Avalon Mall.
When they saw Sears locations closing across Canada in July, they realized they might be out of a job soon enough.
“I was on a mission to make sure we had work,” said Scaplen. “The three of us have been working together for over 30 years, we didn’t want to be separated.”
Suzannah Masters is the owner of The Hair Studio and Spa on Tospail Road, and she had no plans to expand her business.
“The salon was full, but one of my current employees had worked with the three ladies years ago, and mentioned that they were looking for work,” said Masters. “I knew they didn’t want to be separated after all those years, so I decided to expand to accommodate them.”
There was a vacant space right next door, and now it is being renovated as an extension of the salon for the ladies to work out of.
“Suzannah put the three of us together so that we wouldn’t go through any withdrawals,” laughed Scaplen.
Scaplen told The Telegram they started working through the hair salon in Sears when it was located in the Village Mall on Topsail Road.
“We’re kind of coming back home,” said Scaplen. “Since we originated on Topsail Road, a lot of our clients live in this area, and about 99 per cent of them are following us to our new location.”
Scaplen says the ladies are thrilled about the new work opportunity.
“It’s nice to come and interact with different people,” said Scaplen. “Now we get to learn new techniques from some of the younger hairdressers here. You’re never too old to learn.”
Scaplen said that many Sears employees are still on a job hunt.
“There’s life after Sears,” said Scaplen. “It might not feel that way at first, and it might be stressful, but it’s been worthwhile for us.”
