Joanne’s Beauty Boutique is a hair salon at 1260 Fillmore St, founded in 1976 and still going. African American- and woman-owned, it is one of the few remaining Black-owned businesses on the Fillmore Street corridor, and a longtime hub for the Western Addition community. It shares the building with the Royal Adah Arms senior housing.
Three founders, one owner today
Joanne Prater, Bettye Cooks and Pearl Carr opened the salon in 1976, when it was one of the only places in the neighborhood that catered to African American hair, with press and curls and relaxers the most requested services. Carr left in 1991 to become a beauty school instructor, and Prater passed away in 2013, leaving Bettye Cooks as sole owner. Cooks trained under Jose LaCrosby, a renowned African American hairdresser whose clients included Nina Simone, Little Richard and Eartha Kitt. She won a Hair Extravaganza award in 2007 for her dedication to the beauty business and the community.
A neighborhood hub
Entertainer James Brown used to stop in for a trim before performing at the Fillmore Auditorium or the Fairmount Hotel, and Danny Glover once sold poetry in the salon before he was famous. Today the salon offers senior discounts on Tuesdays, gives free limited services to girls in the Police Activities League football and cheer program, and rents space to independent stylists in the community, so more than one stylist may be working there. Call the salon at (415) 921-9994 to find out who is in and book a chair.
