Joan gets a voice mail

Another day passes and I finally hear from her. She is not my girlfriend, sister or colleague but she is someone who knows almost all my secrets and has intimately touched me for many years. She knows me like few people do and her only goal has been to make me beautiful and satisfy. She is one of the dozens of women who were suddenly left without a job when Maxell’s Hair Salon abruptly announced to their staff on January 19^th that they were closing the next day.

Does anyone really know why in Parma Town so many shops are closing? I saw the demise of Pier One which had been in the same location for over 17 years. Jennifer Convertible closed its doors last month and now Maxell’s which had been at the Plaza for 46 years. A lot of local people worked at these establishments and retail is overwhelming staffed by women. Many of these women worked in that location because it was close to home and allowed them the flexibility to still take care of their children, aging parents or pursue their studies at nearby Tri-C. None of these women made a lot of money. The clientele of Maxell’s overwhelmingly consisted of senior ladies often accompanied by a daughter or grand-daughter. These old ladies looked forward to their Saturday morning beauty session. I went there because they offered many services at reasonable prices. It was a local institution, a lot of women in Parma and Parma Heights went to Maxell’s.

The Parma area is heavily populated but has few conveniences. Why is Forest City pushing tenants out the door? An employee of Pier One confided in me, prior to closing their doors, that their sales volume was very good but that the landlord kept increasing the rent till they had no choice but to close. Maxell’s was a successful salon; it was heavily patronized with a loyal clientele. It appeared to be a successful and profitable local business.

Why is it then, that the city counsel is allowing this institutionalized eviction? Is there a master plan to reclaim this valuable land to build yet more lucrative office facilities for the nearby Parma Hospital? Forest City has not offered any public explanation but someone at City Hall must know what is happening in this community and must have good reasons to keep mute.