Ron DeWinter says it hasn’t been easy keeping a business going in downtown South Bend for four decades. But he’s done just that.

Hair Crafters Day Spa Salon is celebrating its 40th anniversary today. The salon is celebrating the occasion with an open house from 5 to 8 p.m. with live entertainment, refreshments from local establishments and a gift for guests.

He’s faced obstacles such as the continued developments in Granger and the recession, but DeWinter’s success, he says, is thanks to the relationships he’s built.

“It’s a relationship business,” DeWinter says of owning a salon. “I built it one client at a time.”

Hair Crafters opened May 25, 1976, in the former Quality Inn hotel, which is now Trinity Towers. In 1983, the business relocated to its current location at 602 Lincoln Way E.

Over the years, there were a few times Hair Crafters could have relocated, DeWinter says. It was important for him, though, to be “the downtown salon.”

DeWinter began his career as a barber in the mid-‘60s, but turned to be more of an educator during what he calls a “hair recession” in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. A lot of men were growing their hair out and many barbers got out of the industry, he says.

And in DeWinter’s 50-year career, many of the area’s other successful hairstylists got their start with him.

Beyond the relationships built with clients, he says, the staff of Hair Crafters also deserve much of the credit for the business’ success.

DeWinter says he’s more on the creative side, still cutting hair four days a week at the age of 70, but his wife, Betty, and daughter Jean drive the business side.

And of course the stylists, some of whom have been with Hair Crafters for more than 20 years. This October will be Cheryl Bognar’s 28th year with the business. Beyond just loving the job, she says, she’s stayed with the business for so long because of the happy environment with bosses she loves and admires.

“It isn’t about me,” DeWinter says of his business and its years of success. “It’s about the team.”

Source: South Bend Tribune