Sunnyvale, California Since 1994
Cover Story
Knockout The Uppercut salon combines Lou Soliz's love of boxing and cutting hair By Amy Jenkins Stepping into one downtown Sunnyvale hair salon is like taking a time machine to the 1940s: It's decorated with black-and-white checkered floors, vintage barber chairs, old furniture and antique boxing memorabilia. Lou Soliz originally opened The Uppercut—a unisex salon with both barbershop and beautician equipment—in the Town and Country Village 22 years ago, and for the past five years it has been located in the Plaza de Las Flores on Sunnyvale Avenue. Hence, it's one of the oldest hair salons in the city, Soliz says. The salon was named after a punch because Soliz loves boxing. Besides, the other potential name, House of Lou, "sounded like a Chinese restaurant," Soliz, 51, says with a laugh. He adds that the reason his business has stayed open while many other Sunnyvale hair salons have closed is due to good management, a strong core of devoted, mature stylists, quality service and growth control. Although the salon offers full service for men and women, Soliz recently made cutbacks by letting manicurists go. Soliz says he chose to take this financial cut for the health betterment of his clients, staff and himself. Many of the barbers and hairstylists have worked for Soliz for many years and have specialties and specific clientele. After graduating from San Jose Barber College, where Soliz met his wife, he went on to work for Steve Lueddeke, who co-owned The Continental hair salon in Sunnyvale. After the two owners chose to close the shop, Soliz opened The Uppercut. "I hired Lou right out of barber college," says Lueddeke, who now works for Soliz at the Uppercut. "This shop is built like The Continental, which was the first unisex salon in Santa Clara County. We get to overhear conversations on the women's side." Lueddeke, who owns a ranch in San Martin, hopes to carry on a family tradition of making handmade saddle ropes using human hair when he retires in a couple of years. The stylists have a loyal client base, such as Dave Johnson, who has been coming to Lueddeke since he moved to Sunnyvale five years ago. "This is a fun place to come to because everyone gets along," says Johnson, a business manager in Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety; he's one of Lueddeke's typical executive clients. Kaye Rooney, who has worked as a hairstylist in Sunnyvale since 1969, now enjoys working at The Uppercut. Her specialty is the fading art form of the shampoo and set, and her clientele for this service is primarily older women, who visit once a week. Millie Esparas says she has gotten her hair done by Rooney every week for the past 33 years. After living in Sunnyvale for 40 years, she moved out of the city for several years but returned so she could "come back to Kaye," Esparas says. Some of the older female customers initially felt uncomfortable having a barbershop in the same building. "But now we've been integrated so long they don't mind anymore," Rooney says. Soliz agrees, saying, "It is cute enough so that the women like it, and men also feel comfortable." While Soliz specializes in flattops, there are female stylists who dye customers' hair all the colors of the rainbow. Sandra Mann colored one customer's hair green, purple, red and various other hues. And when the 10-year lease Soliz just signed expires, several of the shop's 10 workers, including Soliz, will retire. This is Dee Gould's plan. She graduated from beauty college in 1964 and has worked at The Uppercut for eight years. But the manager, Teresa Slayday, who has been a beautician since 1979, says, "I love doing hair so much I can see myself doing it when I'm 65." The salon is notably decorated with the largest collection of boxing memorabilia in the Bay AreaÑaccording to a barber board inspector who once visited someone in Oakland who claimed they had the largest collection. Soliz and his wife made a trip to Los Angeles when the shop first opened, stopping at boxing gyms and sports memorabilia shops, collecting all they could, but "we were broke because we were opening up the shop." When some customers heard about his endeavor, they contributed gifts of posters and autographs. One customer met Muhammed Ali and Don King on an airplane. When they found out that he was asking for an autograph for a barber, they gave him one. Another customer had George Foreman sign a Caesar's Hotel visor for Soliz. Other barbershop antiques he has on display include shaving brushes, razors and hair tonics. Numerous sets of boxing gloves also line the wall. One pair was signed by Jeff Finch, the middleweight champion of Australia. Pictures of Oscar de la Hoya with his girlfriend, a former Uppercut customer, also adorn the wall. There are also original movie theater boxing posters for films like The Square Jungle with Tony Curtis, which Soliz acquired in 1981. The shop also features original magazine covers from 1948 publications of The Ring magazine and posters from a Los Angeles auditorium where Soliz watched fights while growing up. "The Ali autograph is so valuable because it says 'To Lou,' and he never signs anything 'To' anyone," Soliz says. For as much as he loves boxing, the closest he has gotten to the sport is "boxing grapes and oranges one summer," he jokes. For the past 30 years Soliz has also been the lead singer and guitar player in a band called SAGE. "The music business gives me an edge to staying young," Soliz says. "I stay really busy and practically live out of my car. I have my cutting shears and guitar pick inside my 1937 Chevrolet." |
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