Robert Bianco dressed impeccably for his final day of work after 50 years in business.
Sparkly cufflinks. Dark slacks, sharply pressed. Sleeveless vest to contrast his crisp white collared shirt. Two snazzy rings on his fingers. And, of course, his trademark smile.
“Welcome to House of Bianco,” he said, ushering me into a waiting room inside the 5,000-square-foot House of Bianco Beauty Concepts & Day Spa.
It’s been located for 43 years inside the landmark, gold-colored twin towers in Merrillville, near where the Radisson Hotel once stood. The hotel was razed earlier this year and the twin towers are expected to be razed next year.
“It’s the end of an era,” Bianco said with a shrug on Oct. 31, the store’s last day.
Customers strolled in for their final haircut or spa service, leaving with farewell hugs from the store’s family-like staff.
“We’ve had a blast here through the years. It will be hard to not come back here tomorrow,” said Suzie Roe, the salon’s receptionist who has worked there for 30 years.
She turned away to contain her emotions while recalling those 30 years.
“Our customers are like our family,” said Roe, who is Bianco’s cousin. “I’ve seen their kids grow up, and their kids have kids.”
The salon’s computer system went down a week ago, forcing the staff to work from their memories.
“Writing everything down like we did in the old days,” Roe said. “I miss those days. So many fond memories, so many great customers.”
Bianco’s staff once catered to several celebrities who performed at the Star Plaza Theatre, which will also be razed. Bianco routinely cut Dean White’s hair through the decades, until the billionaire’s death last year.
“Mr. White would have never let this happen like it did if he was still alive,” Roe said.
In Bianco’s younger days, he wanted to be a veterinarian while attending Lew Wallace High School in Gary. His mother and her friends encouraged him to attend beauty school after graduation. He shrugged at the idea at first.
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“But then I got to thinking,” he recalled. “You know, I like women. I think I may like to do that.”
His father didn’t approve at first.
“He almost croaked,” Bianco joked.
Bianco tried working inside at a mill, like thousands of other young men during the gravy days of the steel industry. It lasted only a few months.
“It wasn’t for me. I went back to beauty school,” he said.
After graduating from beauty school, Bianco worked for a few years at a popular hair salon at 558 Washington St. in Gary.
“In 1965, I had my hair done for my senior prom by a young stylist there named Robert Bianco,” recalled Diane Kellenburger, who graduated from Andrean High School.
Bianco learned everything he needed to know there.
“Without it, I’d know nothing about this business,” he said.
In 1967, he opened his own store, Bob’s Beauty Salon, on Ridge Road in the Glen Park section of Gary. That’s where he met Gabriella, his wife.
She was one of his first employees. They were both married to other spouses at the time.
“My ex-husband brought me there to get a job,” Gabriella said, prompting laughs from her husband and their staff.
The couple has been married for 44 years, living most of that time in Valparaiso.
“But I’ve been behind a stylist’s chair for 50 years now,” Gabriella said. “I’m tired.”
Lori Jamrok has been a customer since those early days.
“Bob started cutting my hair when I was 11,” she said. “My mom was their client back in the ’60s and she started taking me there weekly.”
It was Gabriella who talked her husband into relocating their Glen Park salon into the twin towers in Merrillville.
“Back then, there was nothing out here so I was worried about losing our customers,” Robert recalled.
“Our parents thought we were crazy moving way out here to Merrillville,” Gabriella added.
Their new salon, House of Bianco, opened on April 5, 1975. The first rent payment was $750 a month, Robert recalled.
The salon expanded several times over the years, adding new services and amenities for both women and men. Body wrapping, skin rejuvenation, body treatments, as well as a boutique with hand-picked jewelry, clothing and accessories.
“Other than a few years of roaming to other salons, even when living in Atlanta for eight years, I’d come here for haircuts,” said Jamrok, who got one last haircut there before the salon closed. “No one cuts my hair like Bob did and like Gabriella does.”
“They are wonderful people. I’m so sad they closed. They will certainly be missed,” she said.
“Wonderful memories and people,” added Kellenburger, who also trusted only Gabriella for her hair stylings. “Best wishes to them on life’s next adventure.”
Robert, 76, Gabriella, 72, and their daughter, Christine Spero, will work part time at another salon closer to their homes, The Designer’s Club Hair Salon in Valparaiso.
“If I don’t feel like coming in on any given day, I can finally call off,” Robert quipped. “We’ve talked about this for many years.”
Staring toward a once-bustling but now deserted hallway inside the twin towers, I asked Robert what he will miss from his House of Bianco days.
“Nothing really,” he replied after a short pause. “It’s time to close. It’s all gone, what he had here.”
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