People of Downtown Greeley: Linda Winter of Accessories with a Flair & Hair

I first met Linda Winter years ago at Austin's, and she and her husband, Dick, have been a joy to get to know ever since. So when it came time to sit down with the people who make downtown Greeley what it is, Linda was near the top of my list. Few people carry as much of this town's history, or stay as involved in its future.

She has been doing hair in Greeley for more than five decades and running a downtown storefront for nearly 30 years. In that time she has watched the district hollow out, fight its way back, and turn into the place people now drive in from other towns to visit. She didn't just watch it happen, either. She has spent years on the boards and committees that made it happen.

A Blind Date, and She Never Left

Linda came to Greeley in 1970 for beauty school. Then came a blind date with a young man from Eaton. "I never left," she says. That was Dick, and the two have now been married 54 years. Along the way Linda picked up a second job title: farm wife. They're still farming today.

That mix of salon chair and farm field says a lot about Linda. She is as at home talking about Western wear for the rodeo crowd as she is talking about the latest styles coming out of Las Vegas buying shows. Greeley was built on agriculture, and Linda has a foot planted firmly in both its farm country and its downtown.

She opened her hair salon in 1970 and added a store in 1996. For 16 years the shop sat in the Showcase Art Center, about five blocks away. Then the Winters bought their own building, and Accessories with a Flair & Hair has been at its current downtown home for 13 years. You'll find it today at 801 8th Ave., Suite 4. Look for the red awning.

A Building with a Past

Linda's building went up in 1895, just 25 years after the Union Colony founded Greeley in 1870. In those early years, the whole business district amounted to a single block of 8th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues, lined with banks, boot shops, and a rambling mix of frame and adobe storefronts. Linda's address sits right at the edge of that original block, on ground where Greeley first did its shopping.

Plenty of its neighbors didn't make it. In the 1960s, many of Greeley's commercial landmarks were torn down and replaced with newer buildings and parking lots. The ones that survived, like Linda's, are a big reason downtown still feels like downtown: the brick, the storefront windows, the upper floors, and more than a century of Greeley business behind every door.

That history is also what saved downtown. Getting part of it designated as a historic district opened the door to grants and tax credits that helped owners restore their buildings rather than replace them. When the Winters bought theirs, they became caretakers of one of those survivors. A 130-year-old building now holds wigs fitted for customers from across the country, Western wear for the rodeo crowd, and a grand piano disguised as a jewelry table. It's hard to think of a better example of an old building finding a new life.

Downtown Then and Now

When Linda arrived, downtown was in transition. The businesses were different and the street was lined with bars. (Her favorite back then? "My husband did most of the drinking," she laughs.) There's been plenty of construction over the decades too. Through all of it, she says, Greeley has stayed a friendly town and a good place to do business. Even as the city grows outward, downtown remains its historic hub.

It wasn't always a sure thing. In 2000, Colorado Preservation Inc. put downtown Greeley on its list of Endangered Places, pointing to growth on the west side that had pulled businesses and residents away and left vacant buildings behind. It took more than a decade of work, including the creation of a downtown historic district, before the area came off that list in 2012.

Linda credits the late Bob Tointon with turning things around. A longtime Greeley businessman, he chaired the Downtown Development Authority from its formation and put his own money behind the comeback. Linda says he bought 13 buildings downtown, including the Kress and Shaw buildings, and kick-started the revitalization. From there, downtown became a DDA, a district built to help merchants and promote events. "Events have been the key to bringing people downtown," Linda says. Friday Fest, Trick-or-Treat Street, Small Business Saturday, and Light Up Lincoln Park with its $100,000 worth of Christmas lights and Santa all came out of that push. Greeley was also the first place in the state allowed to let people carry drinks between bars with the right permits.

This month, that means Trick-or-Treat Street is just around the corner, and families will be filling the sidewalks in costume. Then come Small Business Saturday and the holiday lights, and the cycle starts again. For Linda, every one of those events is a chance for someone to walk through her door for the first time.

Not Just One Thing

Walk in and you'll find a boutique, a hair salon, a makeup studio, and a wig center under one roof. "I don't believe in selling just one thing, because all this goes together," Linda says.

Why do customers keep coming back? Personal service, and unique pieces so "they don't meet themselves on the street." To keep the racks fresh, Linda flies to Las Vegas twice a year to do her own buying. It helps her keep up with what's happening on both coasts, because every part of the country likes different styles. She also sponsors Miss Rodeo Colorado, which brings in plenty of Western customers in a county with deep Western roots.

About Those Wigs

I walked in thinking October meant Halloween wigs. Linda set me straight. Her wigs are Raquel Welch and Gabor lines, and she sells about 500 a year, shipping them across the country. Customers fly or drive into Colorado from other states to see her, because she fits and trims each wig for the person wearing it. That kind of service is hard to find anywhere, let alone on a downtown block.

That's a big part of what sets her apart from a typical boutique. A customer can come in for a wig fitting, get it cut and styled in the salon chair, have their makeup done, and walk out with an outfit and accessories to match. It's one-stop service built on more than 50 years of experience behind the chair.

The Grand Piano

Most visitors don't even realize it's there. "Nice heart-shaped table," they tell her. It's actually a grand piano that was in Linda's family for 40 years. When her parents passed away, her brother told her she was taking it, and that she'd put jewelry on it. She did.

"It's the best thing I ever did," she says. Visiting musicians play it during the blues jam and at other times, including players from UNC and a pianist from Aspen who stops in when he's in town. Performers from the Moxi and the Civic Center sometimes wander in, ask if it's really a piano, and sit down to play. One award-winning blues artist comes every year and brings his own fans with him. They open up the doors, and people dance in the street.

All In on Greeley

Linda doesn't just run a business downtown; she helps steer it. She serves on the DDA board and on the board of the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, which has been playing for 113 years and, as Linda points out, is the longest-running professional orchestra west of the Mississippi.

She's also a champion of the train museum. When the Big Boy steam locomotive comes through, she says, the museum can draw 20,000 visitors and bring in $24,000 in two hours. It runs on about 150 volunteers, and when the Grinch makes an appearance, Linda is the one doing his makeup. She recently headed to Firestone to transform one of the museum's volunteers into the Grinch for an event, and she says the kids love him.

The Colorado Model Railroad Museum, at 680 10th St., is one of downtown's hidden gems. Its HO-scale layout fills 5,500 square feet of scenery with more than 80 scale miles of track, and visitors come from across the country to see it. Greeality TV will be paying it a visit soon.

What She Wants for Downtown

Linda's goal is simple: make downtown a destination. The city is building out on the west side, and she wants to keep giving people reasons to come downtown and stay. That means more events, including winter ones, along with the farmers market, the orchestra, the museum, and places like hers. Some events come and go. Monster Day ended because Distortions got too busy with its worldwide work. But Linda says new ones are always in the works.

After more than half a century in Greeley, she's still one of the people making sure there's something worth coming downtown for. Stop by 801 8th Ave., Suite 4, say hello, and ask her about the piano. And while you're there, take a second look at the building. It's been part of downtown Greeley for longer than almost anyone can remember.