Despite being told she was good enough to work anywhere, Cathy refused to leave Garston
Jane, Bill, Katie and Suzie celebrate Cathy’s of Garston’s 56th anniversary
A family-run hair salon at the heart of South Liverpool has been styling women’s hair for over five decades now. The story of Cathy’s of Garston dates back to 1969, when it first opened its doors on Lincoln Street in 1969, before moving to its current home on St Mary’s Road in 1996.
This week marks the brand’s 56th birthday, which is a testament to the hard work of late owner Cathy Booth, who died of heart failure in her husband Bill’s arms in February 2021. Following her death, Cathy’s family was resolute in carrying on her legacy. The salon is now managed by her daughters, Suzanne, Jane, and Kate, along with Bill.
Mum-of-one Suzanne, from Melling, told the ECHO: “My mum bought it from a family friend when she was just a child, basically. We grew up there, and it has always been a part of our lives. Even when we girls all moved away, she kept it on and made it her own. She travelled down the motorway, the M57, for 48 years.
“So when we lost our mum, we knew we needed to continue her legacy in the south side of Liverpool. There was no question about it. It was a family decision we made for the community our mum built. It was hard because we missed our mum every day; she would be there standing all the time, but it was easy because it was all for her. We are still standing for her.
The late Cathy Booth from Cathy’s of Garston Hairdressers(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Staff and long-standing customers who have visited the salon over the last five decades gathered to celebrate its birthday. Cathy was 21 when she moved from Bootle to Garston, where she set up and lived above her shop with husband Bill, originally of Scotland Road.
Bill previously told the ECHO: “She died suddenly in my arms. She was lying on the couch. She’d been in the hospital for five days. I came downstairs, she gave me an anniversary card and passed away in front of them. We were 51 years married then.
“We got married on Saturday, and she opened the salon on Tuesday and never took a day off for 25 years. There were six good hairdressers in Liverpool back in the 1970s, five of them were men, and Cathy was the only female.
Family of Cathy’s of Garston celebrate 56 years in business today
“In the 1970s, we had the introduction of decimalisation and the three-day working week. There was major unemployment in the 1970s and 1980s. She had all of that to carry on with and still managed to keep the business going and busy, and she also had three children.
“She was a law unto herself. She was a workaholic. They came from all over Liverpool for Cathy. You could have a doctor sitting next to a girl from a factory, that’s how known she was. Her name was synonymous with hairdressing. She was a top stylist working in a working-class area.”
Despite being told she was good enough to work anywhere, Cathy refused to leave Garston. Eldest daughter Jane, told the ECHO why she thought her mum’s business stood the test of time, and why it was more than just a hairdressers.
Cathy’s of Garston
She said: “She would bend over backwards for people. She really cared about the individual. People would say to me things like, if I was going on holiday she would open up the shop at half six so my hair was done before I got on the flight.
“I’ve always called it an institution. All those clichés of it being a community hub doesn’t even do it justice. If somebody hadn’t come in that week my mum would phone them to check they were okay. Like her elderly customers.
“She wasn’t worried that they didn’t get their streaks done that week but she’d phone them just to check on them and say I haven’t heard from your mum, is she okay? That kind of thing.”
Cathy’s of Garston with the Thanks A Million logo
The family set up the Catherine Booth Foundation in Cathy’s honour which has donated friendship benches to schools in Liverpool as Cathy was a good friend to so many people for so long.
Suzanne added: “We have four generations of customers: Nans, mums, their kids, and now their kids’ kids. It’s a hard industry to be in, there’s no doubt about it, but we do it for these customers who trusted our mum. When I’m in the salon, I’m not Suzanne, I’m just Cathy’s daughter. I’m there because our mum can’t be there.
“Her favourite saying was ‘thanks a million’. She would thank anyone and everyone who walked in these doors because she knew anyone and everyone could go wherever they wanted with their hard-earned cash, but they came here. So she wanted to thank them each time.
“We have young 18-year-olds sitting with 90-year-olds chatting about day-to-day life. They talk about dating, shopping, their jobs and life. To see that is unbelievable. It’s just a chat for the 18-year-old, but for that 90-year-old, it might be the only chat they have all day. It’s incredible to see what my mum has created and what we are continuing to do.”
