Our Founder
 Mr. Arbour has been in the beauty business since 1962. Born in Toronto, he went into the service during the Korean War, and was stationed in Germany. After the war, Mr. Arbour started as a milkman for a big dairy in the Detroit area. He owned his own route, but with Michigan's climate, delivering milk in the winter left him cold. He was looking for something new. With his family to support, it had to be something he could get into quickly. One day he stopped at a soda fountain on his milk route, and asked the woman behind the counter, "What line of business could I get into that wouldn't take five years to learn?" She said, "Why not beauty school?" So in 1959 he went to school.
He spoke with the owner of a beauty school on his milk route, and found he could do the program for $275, including his kit. His first customer had so much Aquanet on her hair that it had hardened, and he had to break it up before he could shampoo her hair. But he had already paid his tuition, and he decided to stay with it.
In November 1962, he opened his first salon in Detroit. Three years later, he bought a beauty college in Detroit, and then opened another salon. By 1973, his business had expanded to include three schools and a salon, located in Plymouth, Canton, and Taylor.
Mr. Arbour came to Brighton when the New Midwest Beauty College, which a friend had owned, went up for sale. Later, he bought the Brighton Institute of Cosmetology. Under Mr. Arbour's ownership, the Brighton Institute of Cosmetology merged with the New Midwest Beauty College in January 1998.
Mr. Arbour is still cutting and styling hair. He has just one customer - a Sterling Heights resident - but he's been doing her hair every six weeks for the last 35 years.
- W. J. Arbour
- Patricia A. Hammill
- Marie Kidd
- Janet Kowaleski
- Sylvia Russell
- Pamela Dearing
- Kathy Selke
- Emmy Venter
Philosophy and Objectives
Brighton Institute of Cosmetology is dedicated to educating quality cosmetologists, manicurists, instructors and estheticians – graduates who are able to meet both the present and future demands of the beauty industry. Each student admitted to the Institute receives not only individualized instruction and exposure to technical skills and equipment, but also adequate opportunity for supervised work with the public. Each program offered by the school is designed to provide a sound educational basis to maximize the employability of its graduates.
Our objectives:
- To build a solid foundation of educational and technical skills
- To provide exposure to the role of the professional cosmetologist, manicurist, instructor or esthetician
- To offer students an opportunity to state-of-the-art product and styling techniques
Licensing and Accreditation
Brighton Institute of Cosmetology is licensed by:
Department of Licensing and Regulation
Board of Cosmetology
PO Box 30244
Lansing Michigan 48909
(517) 241-9201
|
