This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Who's Who in El Cerrito: Alexandra Sussman-Gibbs

Every weekday we will feature a brief chat with someone who lives or works in El Cerrito.

Who's Who in El Cerrito: Alexandra Sussman-Gibbs

Age: 34

Occupation: Owner of and hairstylist at Elixir Salon in El Cerrito and Berkeley

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

How long have you lived in El Cerrito? Six years

What made you decide to open a salon in El Cerrito? Being a resident of El Cerrito. Seeing that businesses here were not keeping up with their demographic. This was back when Yelp wasn't keeping up with their demographics, so when you searched for salons you would get Oakland, Berkeley, Albany, anywhere but here.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Did you notice a specific type of clientele that El Cerrito salons were catering to? They cater to an older clientele. I have Nadia's Salon in my building, and at first I was worried she might see me as competition. But she definitely serves a senior clientele.

There are also no places to get hair products in El Cerrito, especially now that Pure Beauty is gone. We thought we'd come here and share some AVEDA love. We have been hit a bit by the economy in the way of growth, but when Super Cuts is $26 for a cut, wash and color, our $35 hair cut special is definitely comparable .

What are your observations about El Cerrito? At the time I moved here I felt like everyone was moving to Oakland. I feel like it's a place people forget about, they forget it's even here. I wasn't going to move to West Oakland. I wanted to buy a house.

It's a great place to live. It's beautiful. I love the parks here. It's a great place to raise a child. Now that I'm not in the flats and I'm up, up, up where I belong.

Have you noticed a different demographic here than in your Berkeley shop? It's a much younger clientele. New money here. Our average age in Berkeley is between 45 and 47. Our average age in El Cerrito is between 30 and 35.

Is there anything else you want to add? I heart El Cerrito. It's really a great place to live. My son just switched to Montessori school. He's not going to Madera anymore this year. Since there aren't that many kids in El Cerrito, everybody does so much for the kids. He still sees people he knows everywhere. Because of this I don't feel like he's missing out in not going to Madera anymore.  

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?