Grand opening for Unique Transition Beauty Supply Store in Waveland

That ‘rip me out the plastic I’ve been acting brand new’ feeling is now in Hancock County after a new beauty supply store opened up shop over the weekend.

It was a milestone achievement for store owner Constance St. Julien-Mims as downtown Waveland helped celebrate the grand opening of Unique Transition Beauty Supply. Waveland Mayor Jay Trapani said, “It’s a great day. Mrs. Connie is opening up her retail store and soon to open up a barber college out here on Highway 90 in beautiful downtown Waveland.”

Owner Constance St. Julien-Mims said, “We plan to offer everything for every texture of hair.”

After 15 years of hard work, dedication, and perseverance, St. Julien Mims is now seeing her dreams come to life. “This has been a struggle, it has. We actually started right after the pandemic to try to put preparations for going in here. Funding has been hard, but we piece it together. This has been a community product really.”

Beauty Supply Consultant Retail Strategist Janice Fredericks said, “It’s very hard for African Americans to get into this type of industry and so being able to partner with me, I was able to get her access to all the inventory she needs in her store. I was able to set up all of her systems and processes in her store. So, basically the store can be able to run on autopilot.”

Now that the beauty supply store is open, customers don’t have to travel far for products. “What happens is if anybody needs beauty supplies at all, they either have to go to Slidell or they have to go to Gulfport. We haven’t had anything in this area since before Katrina.”

“It’s been 18 years since Hurricane Katrina. So, we have Ground Zero Museum on Coleman Avenue because Waveland was ground zero. 90 percent of the city was destroyed by the hurricane. So, it’s really, really exciting that the city is coming back now.”

As the City of Waveland is continuing to rebuild, Fredericks says it is important to support black-owned businesses. “Come to these local black owned beauty supply stores and support just not only on the grand opening but every single day, because as you support a black owned business our dollars get circulated in the black community.”