The frank anthony story
One of the older Frank Anthony posters, 1990s
Established in 1970
Frank Anthony Salon was founded in 1970 by Joy and Frank Warner. It started out as a two person barbershop located on the east side of Chester village in the Chester Professional Building. They named it A Masculine Touch. Frank worked 6 days and 3 nights per week. Joy worked on Saturdays because she wanted to be home and take care of her new baby. She was a licensed hairdresser, the receptionist, and shampoo technician. At this time in the hair industry, everyone was into the natural look- no one colored or permed their hair.
In 1970, they did 50 clients per week. 25 of them were done on Saturday. The price of a men’s haircut was $6 and a perm was $30. The average salon was charging $3 for a cut and style and $25 for a cut and perm.
In Frank’s own words
“After 8 months in business, a really great thing happened on a Wednesday afternoon. Anthony Gentile came in looking for employment. Anthony was already a friend and me and him had previously worked together at Tony’s brother’s barbershop where we had met a few years earlier. Joy and I told Tony we would love to have him work with us, but we didn’t have enough business to pay him a fair salary. Tony’s response was that he would work for no salary until we could afford to pay him.”
Frank cutting hair, 1990s
Frank and Tony, early 2010s
Brianna joined the team in 2010 at the age of 20 and by 2015 she realized she wanted to be more than an employee, she wanted to be a leader. Frank took her under his wing and taught her everything he knew before his retirement. In January 2020, Brianna became the proud owner of frank anthony salon and continues to flourish by keeping Frank’s legacy alive, but continuing to innovate with her own ideas as well as creating a fun and exciting environment where everyone is happy to call a second home. The future is a bright road ahead, and we can’t wait to see what comes next for frank anthony salon.
“After a week of trying to figure out how we could get enough business to bring Tony aboard, we finally did it! Tony’s starting salary was $125 before taxes. As you can all see, it was the best business decision we have ever made. Tony, with all of his talents, became fully booked after 6 months. The salon grew very slowly over the next 5 years. Joy had another baby, Jennifer, and shortly after went to hair color school in New York. She studied with the most famous and the first color only salon in New York, Leslie Blanchard. This was our second best business decision. As time passed, Joy permed and colored everything that didn’t move. Our family got older and Joy was able to work more and more. Our business really started to grow and we were the first truly unisex salon in New Jersey”
Brianna, left, with our guest services manager Shawna, right
Shawna’s been at frank anthony salon since 1998