NEW HAVEN, Connecticut (AP) – Salon owner Pio Imperati took a chance and hired hairstylist Kathy Moura right out of technical high school 15 years ago. It worked so well that Imperati sold him his venerable New Haven, Connecticut business for $ 1.
“She’s a good hairdresser, a good barber, she’s very nice,” Imperati told the New Haven Sign up for the sale of Pio of Italy Hair Studio. “I sold it to him for $ 1 to keep us friends.”
While Moura will pay rent to Imperati, she avoids charges of up to tens of thousands of dollars to purchase a salon for equipment, supplies, and clientele.
Imperati, 79, now works there as an independent entrepreneur.
“In the end, it was my dream come true to be able to entrust the salon to someone worthy,†he said.
Imperati has been in business for about 56 years in various places and forms, starting with a barber shop in 1965, according to the newspaper.
Moura, 32, remembers that at the end of her studies “nobody would hire me because I had no experience”. She called a teacher for help and got Imperati’s phone number. He and his wife tried her out and eventually hired her.
“We grew up as a family. … This is how he treats everyone who enters the living room, â€Moura said of Imperati. “Everyone who works here wants you to thrive and become something of yourself.”
