Christo’s Hair Fashion owner Jenny to retire from Stoke Newington salon after 40 years
Jenny Buttigieg and customers Isabella Collins, right, and Violet Laniyin, second right. Picture: Jon King - Credit: Archant
A hairdresser who spent four decades styling Stoke Newington is hanging up her scissors for the last time – because her children want to see more of her.
Jenny Buttigieg has run Christos Hair Fashions in Green Lanes for more than 40 years.
A tearful Jenny told the Gazette: “I am going to miss a lot of things. I am especially going to miss the people. They are more like my family than customers.
“I care so much for them. We used to sing and dance in here with everybody.” The grandmother of four added: “But I have been working for so many years and my children would like me to retire.”
After leaving school Jenny trained at the Morris School of Hairdressing before starting at the family firm, founded by her father in the mid-1960s.
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Loyal customer Isabella Collins, 87, who has visited the salon for more than 20 years, said: “Jenny is so friendly. If you are here at 12 o’clock she sends out for chips. It is like a social club. We are going to miss her. We’ve had some laughs.”
Jenny, who lived above the salon during her childhood, has seen businesses come and go along Green Lanes over the years. “I have a lot of happy memories,” she said.
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Jenny laughed as she recalled the time an elderly customer took a shine to another client’s glasses after using them to check her hair in the mirror and refused to return them until her spare pair were fetched from home.
Violet Laniyin, 88, of Manor House, said: “We always have a laugh and a joke with Jenny. It’s so important, especially when you live on your own. You’ve got company.”
Jenny added: “I’ve got no regrets about staying here. Not one single day.” She now looks forward to spending time with her family, travelling and enjoying her garden.
She will celebrate her retirement on Saturday with a special party at the salon.
