Tucked away in a small house on Washington Road in Evans, women are gathered at Pamela's Coiffures for the latest hairstyles, relaxing times with friends and girl talk.

"This beauty salon is a family," said Pamela Floyd, who has been a salon owner for 35 years. "One of the nicest compliments that I've ever had in my whole life. Someone was sitting in Dayra's chair and said, 'This reminds me of Steel Magnolias .' She just loved it."

She said the client admired the shop because it was "cozy and warm." It also has a 1970s atmosphere. Throughout the salon are bright splashes of color -- vibrant purples, pinks and neon greens.

Hanging from the salon's doorway are colorful beads and curtains. Posters of rainbow-colored peace signs, flowers and butterflies decorate the walls.

In the next room, the drying chairs are 50 years old, but they've been revived with decorative scarves to give each one a different personality.

"Her customers love it. They remember this when they were in their 20s," said Dayra Newsome, an independent stylist, about the retro decorations. "It makes them feel young."

"When you come in, you feel the energy. It's very happy here," she said.

Mrs. Newsome describes Mrs. Floyd as a "Southern belle" with bright colors.

Mrs. Floyd, 62, still works at least 12-hour days, starting at 6 or 7 a.m. But she's slowing down.

"I've been a hairdresser for so long that I now only work Thursday and Friday. I work hard two days, and then I'm through," Mrs. Floyd said.

Mrs. Floyd's mother, Dorothy Platson, has worked at her daughter's salon since it opened in 1974. The customers call her "Mama," and the 90-year-old has no plans of slowing down. Working keeps her young, Mrs. Platson explained.

"I shampoo and keep the books and make the appointments. I'm the all-around girl. I enjoy it up here. I would be lost if I didn't come up here," Mrs. Platson said.

In February, three hairdressers -- Mrs. Newsome, Debbie Curry and Alissa Brown -- joined Mrs. Floyd's team as individual contractors. They rent space and operate under the name Retro Hair & Nail Salon.

"Pam is the sweetest thing. I've never met someone who works like her," Mrs. Newsome said.

"She works so hard, and it doesn't matter if it's 6 o'clock in the morning or 7 o'clock in the afternoon, she's always happy. She's always smiling. She's always in a good mood."

Mrs. Newsome said that she is living out "every hairdresser's dream." She has the freedom to operate as she chooses.

"Pam is not on your case," Mrs. Newsome said. "She pretty much lets us do what we want, and that's what I like the most. I've finally found a place where I feel comfortable.

"I'll be here for a long time. It's hard to find a place where you can be happy to go to work every day."

Roots

Mrs. Floyd's father, Kenneth Platson, was a colonel in the Army, so the family moved frequently during her childhood. They lived in Japan and France.

Her father bought a home in Evans in 1952, so they would have a permanent home. They moved in in 1961.

"Daddy liked it because of Fort Gordon. When we moved to Evans, it was so country. It was a two-lane highway and nothing in Evans but a freezer locker plant, a post office, a gas station, Mr. Roundtree's store, Evans Baptist Church and the school. That was it," she said.

Mrs. Floyd attended Evans High School, but she dropped out in the 11th grade.

"I just didn't like school. When I hit algebra, that was it," she said.

Her father was determined that she was going to learn a trade. She earned her GED in 1970.

"My father said, 'You're going to be a hairdresser.' I had no choice. I wanted to be a legal secretary, and he said no because he worked for a man whose wife was a hairdresser," Mrs. Floyd said.

He saw that hairdressers could excel in business, so he paid $7 a month for his daughter to attend Richmond Vocational Beauty School.

The training lasted 15 months. Mrs. Floyd graduated in 1965.

"They kind of forced me into it, but it's the best thing that ever happened to me," she said.

Next, her father wanted her to open her own business, but she wasn't ready. She accepted a job at J.B. White, where she worked for nine years.

"Then I came out here. My daddy put me in business," she said.

Mrs. Floyd opened Pamela's Coiffures on May 21, 1974. She had a year lease with option to buy the property from a local resident, Billy Tiller.

She still cuts Mr. Tiller's hair. He is 90 years old.

"I was scared to death to start out on my own," Mrs. Floyd said. "My daddy said, 'We won't let you starve,' My dad always wanted me, from the very beginning, to have my own. So when his mother passed away, she left him a small inheritance. That small inheritance was put into this beauty salon.

"That's how we got started," she said.

One day, her parents picked her up from church and told her they wanted to show her something. They brought her to the house where her business is now located at 4302 Washington Road.

In three months, her father had completed major renovations and transformed it into a salon. Mrs. Floyd's clients from J.B. White followed her, so she didn't struggle during the early years in business.

She paid her father back within five years. From day one, her mother has worked beside her at the salon.

"Daddy said, 'You can go to work now.' He wouldn't let her work the whole time that she was raising children, but he wanted her to help me. That's what keeps her young," Mrs. Floyd said.

Cutting hair

Mrs. Floyd has considered selling the business over the years, but she couldn't go through with it.

"Every time I would, I'd get this sick feeling. This is all I've known. It's been a really wonderful life here. My customers make me happy," Mrs. Floyd said.

Most of her customers visit her weekly. She has been doing Harlem resident Jackie Adams' hair for 44 years, since she was in beauty school.

Mrs. Adams was impressed by Mrs. Floyd's abilities and personality.

"I never told her how to do my hair. I've never been disappointed. She can do any kind of haircut or hairstyle that you would want. She keeps up with the trends," Mrs. Adams said.

"She's a lovely person. She's just so down-to-earth. I've been through lots of ups and downs with her and she (has) with me. We're just good friends. She's like family to me," she said.

Over the years, Mrs. Adams befriended several other clients at the beauty shop.

"We got so close that we would go out to eat and have Christmas parties. We called ourselves the Thursday Girls," she said.

When someone becomes Mrs. Floyd's client, she sticks with them until the end.

"When a client dies, she always goes and does their hair (at the funeral home)," Mrs. Adams said.

Each Wednesday for the past 10 years, Mrs. Floyd has also visited assisted living facilities, where she does hair for residents.

Mrs. Floyd shares her love for reading with her customers. She has a library next to her hair dryers.

"A lot of my customers read, and they started bringing in books. They take bags home with books and bring them back or bring me new ones. I've changed out the library probably 10 times in all these years," she said.

She makes it a priority to keep learning.

"I think that's one of the things that helped me in my business. The fact that I did try so hard to keep up with the latest. Some people don't want to go to school, but I always wanted to keep up," she said.

New beginnings

Ten years ago, the ladies at Retro Hair & Nail Salon approached Mrs. Floyd about coming to work for her. Initially, she didn't want to work with other hairdressers because of past experiences, but she changed her mind earlier this year when they inquired again.

"I was only working a couple of days, so I said yes," she said.

In February, the women transformed the once subdued salon into a shop bursting with color. Mrs. Floyd renovated the shop with the help of her son, Trevor Kitchen, who owns Falcon Construction Co. The salon's new appearance has been great for business, she said.

"I really needed a change. I turned 62 and everything flipped. I got married again, my salon looks great and things are changing in my life for the better. It's turned into a happy place," Mrs. Floyd said.

The hairdressers rent booths and work independently, but they operate under the name Retro Hair & Nail Salon.

"We couldn't do the Pamela's Coiffures because no one knows what a coiffure is," Mrs. Curry said. (It is a style of hairdressing.) "If it had been called Pamela's Hair it would have been fine. Pamela's anything. But just not Pamela's Coiffures."

Mrs. Floyd said the ladies jokingly call her the "dinosaur" because her business is so different.

"My business is weekly, and theirs is every four weeks," Mrs. Floyd said. "Since I have the girls here now ... words cannot express how they've made me feel. They're givers. At this beauty salon, when I walk out that door, I don't worry about anything. I know they can handle whatever happens and they're part of this."

Mrs. Curry has been a hairdresser for 19 years. She specializes in color, cuts, nails and makeup.

"We cover everything they need. I can't ever imagine doing anything else. I love making other people feel good about themselves. When that person leaves, I want them to feel like a million bucks because I'm going to do my part," Mrs. Curry said.

Ms. Brown grew up watching her grandmother do hair in the kitchen. She has been a hairdresser for 12 years. She has received extensive training in color and specializes in ethnic hair.

She enjoys working at Retro Hair & Nail Salon.

"It's heaven. It's really relaxed. We get along great. I love it. It's like home away from home. They make you laugh. Working for myself has been the best thing that has ever happened to me," Ms. Brown said.

Mrs. Newsome enrolled in beauty school at Augusta Technical College when she got divorced. She has been doing hair now for more than 20 years.

"I went to school in my country (Panama) to be an accountant, but I hated it. So when I got divorced, I said that I needed to do something that I loved," she said.

In December, Mrs. Floyd stopped working on Saturdays. People thought that she was going to lose some of her customers, but business is still strong.

"I've always had to work Saturday, and I never had a chance to do anything frivolous with my friends. Now I've got that opportunity. Now I'm really enjoying life," she said.

Mrs. Floyd got remarried on Father's Day in 2008. Previously, she had been married for 28 years.

"I'm happier than I've ever been. You get in rut. Then these girls came and lifted me up, and I met Jimmy," she said.

"I want to work here as long as I can and I'm happy. This is a happy salon. It really is," Mrs. Floyd said.

Reach LaTina Emerson at (706) 823-3227 or latina.emerson@augustachronicle.com.