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Here at Beurico Beauty Supply, ‘We Listen’
Feb
WEST BURLINGTON — A new multi-cultural beauty supply shop opened in November 2022 in Westland Mall.
Beurico Beauty Supply, which hosts regular sales, is a bright spot inside the cavernous mall, filled with many different types of hair and skin products and accessories, particularly wigs and hair extensions.
The windows display several curly and straight styles and colors.
Shop owners Ruth and Tomas Eurico are dedicated to providing whatever products their customers are seeking. They tailor services to the individual.
“We have a special request notebook. Our customers are able to jot down what we don’t have, something they may be interested in. By the next time they visit us, we have it in stock,” said Ruth. “Here at Beurico, we listen.”
Ruth was born in New York City and grew up in Connecticut. She moved to Burlington five years ago. Tomas is from Angola, Africa, and he lived in California before moving to Colorado, where he met Ruth while both were vacationing.
“I’m the manager and the salesperson,” explained Tomas.
“I consider myself the visionary, and Tomas is the executioner,” joked Ruth.
When the couple decided to open Beurico, “The biggest challenge was finding the right location. We got guidance from the Small Business Development Center. Our family members, particularly my mom, sisters, aunt, and uncle helped with setting up the store. The rest was just research on our part,” she said.
Business has been “so far, so good,” said Ruth. “We have been slowly growing. More and more people are visiting us. We had a great holiday season and we were happy about that.”
Greater Burlington Partnership celebrated the shop’s grand opening on Feb. 9 with a ribbon cutting and a buzz of excitement about the shop, which has a range of products for just the right look.
“I would say our specialty is hair — braiding hair, crochet hair, all types of hair extensions. Those include tape-in, sew-in, clip-ins, every extension that you can think of,” said Ruth.
Braiding hair is weft-free, loose hair bundles to accommodate braiding and other techniques such as ventilating, crochet, twisting, Brazilian knots, micro beading, fusion, and more.
“Customers are buying a lot of hair extensions and wigs. That is the bulk of our inventory,” said Ruth. “We do have beauty products as well for all hair types.”
Some products have proven to be in-demand.
“We have been selling a lot of secret wire. Secret wire is a type of hair extension where the hair is hanging by a wire, and it’s strategically hidden between your hair so nobody is able to tell. That’s been really popular. Secret wire is pretty new to the market, and pretty new to this area. We feel good about bringing it and introducing it to everybody,” she said.
Ruth and Tomas have gotten some positive feedback regarding their selections.
“Black customers are grateful. We’re getting a lot of ‘thank-you for doing this, we needed this in the community. I no longer have to get my stuff online,’” said Ruth.
There are some disadvantages of shopping online, as when a product arrives and colors prove to be different than how they appeared online.
“A lot of people were relying on Amazon and online beauty supply stores to get their needs, but now you don’t have to wait 2-3 days to get your stuff anymore. And you can actually feel them, come look at the product up close and not have to worry about returning something because it didn’t work,” she said.
Ruth believes the biggest challenge for Black hair maintenance is choosing from the many options available.
“I guess the biggest challenge is deciding what to do with our hair. Do you want it crocheted? Or do you want braids, or sew-in hair extensions, would you like to wear a wig? I think that is the biggest challenge: deciding what, of the many options that we have to actually wear,” she said.
She and Tomas are dedicated to providing fine brands, such as the wig selections.
“Bobbi Boss wigs are a very popular wig brand, very well-known in the community,” she said.
And, “We just brought in Estetica wigs for caucasian women,” said Ruth.
Ruth said she has noticed some beauty trends.
“More and more caucasian women are coming in and buying braiding hair, of all things. Seventy-five percent of customers who are buying braids are caucasian. Get ready to see a lot of caucasian women with braids,” she said.
“It’s a new trend. And a lot of them have been telling me, you know what, I’ve been learning how to braid off of YouTube, and you’ve brought the braids, and now we can do it. Something tells me this spring and summer we’re going to see a lot of braids in town,” she said.
Hopefully, the shop soon will have braiders available to help.
Ruth and Tomas are looking to hire staff for the braiding room.
“When we do, customers will be able to purchase hair extensions and have the option of having them installed right here in the store,” Ruth said.
To learn more about Beurico, visit beuricobeautysupply.com
