Just Hair & Nails in Oceanport has battled flames and floods to keep cutting for 50 years

OCEANPORT - Growing up in Oceanport, Justine Talarico always loved styling her own and others’ hair. And in 1974, that passion led her to open Just Hair & Nails in Oceanport, a cozy salon that was confronted by its share of challenges over the past 50 years, all of which she met with courage and fortitude.

“I was always into hair as a kid and used to style my girlfriends’ and mother’s hair all the time,” recalled Talarico, 73, a lifelong Oceanport resident who recently moved to Lakewood. While still in high school, “I went to Richard’s School of Beauty Culture (which later became Wilfred Academy) in Red Bank at night, and after graduating from high school I went right to work at salons in Long Branch and Matawan, and I also taught at the beauty school.”

“In 1974, when I was 24, a 1,200-square-foot retail space in Oceanport that had formerly been a beauty salon called The Finish Line became available and it seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to go out on my own,” Talarico said. “My parents loaned me the $7,000 I needed to start the business, helped me set up the shop, and over time I paid them back every cent.”

“When I first opened the shop, it was called Beauty Port, but men started coming in with long hair and I realized that I needed a name with broader appeal because we were doing women’s, men’s and kids' hair,” she said. “We ended up running a contest to choose the best new name for our shop and ‘Just Hair’ won. It was more unisex and was also a bit of a play on my first name.”

The shop ultimately remained in that location — next door to the Oceanport post office — for 41 years, and nail services were added to the salon’s menu (and name) in 2015.

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Floods and fire

But while business was always steady, Talarico and her shop weren’t spared from a series of personal and professional setbacks, starting with the tragic loss of Talarico’s beloved college-aged daughter Jessica, who was killed by a drunk driver in 2001.

A decade later, Hurricane Irene in 2011 and Superstorm Sandy in 2012 hit her shop hard.

“Because we’re located right by the Shrewsbury River, we ended up with three feet of water in the shop after Sandy,” she said. “But amazingly, my staff and I were able to clean everything up and return to business within two weeks.”

The hits kept coming, however.

“In 2015, the pizza place next door to us caught fire and it expanded into our shop,” Talarico said. “While thankfully no one was hurt, our entire shop was damaged from fire, smoke and water and it was so traumatic.”

Luckily, she was able to move right into another space — a former bank located in the next shopping center — owned by her same landlord.

“Like the wonderful family they are, all of our staff members and their husbands came to help us with the electrical, plumbing and construction and we had our new shop up and running within three weeks,” she said. “But right after that I developed a case of shingles from all of the stress.”

And then in 2020, like so many other businesses, her shop was closed down for three months during the pandemic.

Throughout these challenges, however, Talarico remained determined to succeed. “This business has been so rewarding to me and I never haven’t been there for my customers,” she said.

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'Hometown kind of shop'

Today, in the 1,600-square-foot shop that’s been home to the Just Hair & Nails team for the past nine years, “we have 10 hair styling stations, a shampoo room, and manicuring spaces, and we serve men, women and children,” Talarico said. “We provide a full range of services, including cuts, color, keratin treatments, body waves, perms, balayage (the “painting” of hair) and ‘fairy hair,’ a process popular with women and girls where we weave strands of tinsel into their hair so that it glitters.”

“I’ve always kept our prices reasonable because I never wanted to lose customers,” Talarico said of the shop, where haircut and blow-dry packages for women start at $50, men’s cuts start at $30, and kids' cuts start at $20.

In terms of trends, “we’ve been through so many hairstyles over the years and I learned them all, from pixie cuts and long layers back in the '70s and '80s to razor cuts, bobs and layered bobs, which are still popular today,” Talarico said.

“These days, boys are wearing longer hair and loose beach waves are big for women. Anything goes when it comes to hair colors and highlights, and keratin treatments are popular because people like long straight hair,” she said, noting that her shop’s fee of $150 for a keratin treatment is half of what some other salons charge.

The one hairstyle Talarico is happy to say goodbye to? “Mullets, which are short on the sides and long in back,” she said. “They’re definitely out.”

Among challenges, “the rising cost of products can be difficult to absorb and is a struggle for all business owners,” Talarico said. At the same time, the growing number of local competitors all vying for the same customers adds pressure — or so she would have thought.

“A salon went into my old shop, there’s another salon in the next shopping center, and a barber shop just went up next door, so there are now three hair places within a block of me,” Talarico said. “But they haven’t actually affected our business at all, probably because hair salons are very people-oriented businesses and every salon has their specialty and builds their customer relationships.”

Staffed by seven stylists (including herself) and an assistant, “our clients come from all over Monmouth County and we have a lot of regulars, some whom have been coming to us for 40 to 50 years; one of my original customers in 1974 was a family with kids who are in their 60s now and still come here,” Talarico said. “We’re a very warm, welcoming, hometown kind of shop and we love serving generations of families.”

As the shop celebrates its golden anniversary this month, Talarico credits her team for Just Hair & Nails’ half-century of success.

“We wouldn’t be here without them," Talarico said. "We all get along wonderfully, have been together for many years, and are truly family. They’re the backbone of this business and we couldn’t run this shop without every one of them.”

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'Hope to keep working forever'

According to Talarico, perseverance has been key to her business.

“I’ve never taken a sick day or canceled on a customer,” said Talarico, who worked every day and night for years but recently cut down to just two days a week. “I grew up in a working family with the understanding that you work or you have nothing. Despite all of the setbacks, the business has been so rewarding for me and I never let it go.”

A self-described people person, “I love our customers and the opportunity to make them look the best they can,” she said of her favorite part of the business. “Our customers rely on us to know the latest styles and techniques and apply them, and we’ve always been big on continuing education in the field. We’re known for being progressive and able to foresee what styles are coming.”

“Ultimately, hair is in my blood and I love what I do,” Talarico concluded. “I’ve dedicated my life to Just Hair & Nails and I hope to keep working forever.”

Just Hair & Nails

Location: 251 E. Main Street, Oceanport

Phone: 732-542-5566

Owner: Justine Talarico

Opened: 1974

Facebook: www.facebook.com/people/Just-Hair-Nails/100054420643221

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Just Hair & Nails in Oceanport celebrates 50 years in business