A large crowd gathers to say goodbye after the closing of Irvine’s favorite saloon – the Irvine Times

Ruth’s Hair Salon officially closed on Saturday, October 26 after more than 40 years in business.

To say thank you and say goodbye to everyone, the family decided to hold an event at the salon on Sunday, October 27.

However, the building proved too small and the crowd that turned up to see owner Ruth Duncan “poured out into the street”.

Ruth Duncan retired at age 74 after closing her salon (Image: Andrena Duncan) One person who came to see Ruth on Sunday was a lady in her late 60s who had worked at the salon when she was 17.

The family decorated the interior and prepared a buffet, cakes, music and a book full of memories of her time at the salon.

Ruth said, “If I didn’t have to quit, I wouldn’t quit.

“If I had to do it all over again, I’d still want the same customers because I had a great time with the people that came in, and they’re not my customers, they’re my friends. ”

Her family made a book of memories from the salon as a gift (Image: Andrena Duncan) The salon is the longest running hair salon in Irvine and is a big part of the whole family’s life, with Ruth’s grandchildren getting their first Saturday jobs working alongside her.

Her career began when she was only 13 years old, when she worked in a barbershop, but decided to switch to hairdressing because she did not like men.

After she retires, she plans to spend more time with herself and her family (Image: Andrena Duncan) There have been many fond memories of Ruth over the past few decades, but some of the highlights include taking stylists to competitions and winning awards, and seeing her clients become like family.