"Hairdressers wanted in Canada," the ad in Hairdressers Journal, a British magazine, read. With that, Irish born stylist Patrick Creagh, owner of hair salon Creagh & Coe, arrived in Hamilton to snip and style across the pond. A second generation hair stylist, with his father and sister both in the trade, Patrick started cutting hair at 16. His first customer, his brother, was the recipient of a perfect shave, but was less appreciative of the cut and bleeding lip he received. "He never lets me forget it, even to this day," Patrick laughs.
With four years of experience shearing locks in Ireland before receiving certification for the Canadian market, Patrick met his business partner, Mike Coe, while working at the same Hamilton salon for three years. When the salon's new owner insisted that all stylists spend no more than 15 minutes on each client, Patrick and Mike followed their consciences as stylists of substance rather than speed by opening Creagh & Coe in September 1973.
"I didn't like the assembly line approach. You cannot do a precision hair cut in 15 minutes," Patrick insists as he recalls how the heyday of the 1970s saw five other hair salons on James Street South alone. When Mike opened a restaurant in 2005, Patrick bought out his partner's share and left the name and the original plaque on the building's exterior.
