Local business owner Nicholas Agostino has spent five decades in an unassuming field: hair dressing. After moving to the US from Italy as a teen, Nick became a barber. His talent quickly led to the chance to build an enduring brand. Now, he operates several NJ salons under the name Hair Plus, including The Day Spa at Hair Plus in Hillsborough.
At the Hillsborough location, Nick enlists the help of business partners Donna Cutts and Suzi Mirra to manage the store. Both Cutts and Mirra are former Hair Plus employees who now work closely with Nick and head his business. To celebrate and reflect on 50 years of success, Nick spoke to Best of NJ about his career and business. Of course, there’s no better place to start than the beginning.
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Just a Small Town Barber
“I started off as a barber,” Nick tells Best of NJ. “One of our family friends was a barber; and my mother suggested that I should be an apprentice under him and learn how to become a barber. So that’s what I did.”
After earning his barber license, he and a friend opened their first business in 1969. The location served as two shops, both a barbershop for men and a salon for women. During this time, the shops were known as Town & Country Barbershop and Roma Beauty Salon. The location? Inside Hillsborough Plaza in Somerset County. Though Nick ran the barbershop, he soon got his beauty license, eager to dive headfirst into this as well.
“At first it was slow going,” Nick admits with a smile. “But as the township grew, we grew also.”
In the 1970s, Nick bought out his partner before changing the brand’s name to what patrons know today: Hair Plus. However, without a partner, the job was hectic; he was cutting hair, managing the business, paying the bills, and keeping track of payroll by hand. Despite this, he soon put Hair Plus at the forefront of the industry; he did so by staying on top of style trends, making sure his staff could provide the looks patrons wanted.
So Much More than a Hair Cut
Nick understands that both men and women see hair styling as a form of expression; it presents a visual accent to their identities. With this in mind, being a barber means more than cutting hair; Nick helps patrons showcase a certain lifestyle. But doing so requires constant training as styles and trends change.
“We are always striving to forge forward, through education,” he explains. “So myself and our employees will attend a ton of different classes; whether it’s for hair coloring, hair styling, cutting, and all facets of our industry.”
In addition, Nick adds that “I’ve learned a lot just by working and by doing. But through the years, my own evolving has been through industry education; going to seminars and learning the hair styles, but also learning the management side and financial aspect of it. So that’s what we’ve always done; we always strive to stay at the front of our industry as it changes.”
Over the years, Hillsborough has built new shopping areas throughout the town. With each major change, Nick has opened a new Hair Plus store. First at the Nelson’s Corner Shopping Center, then at the Hillsborough Promenade. (The former became a second Hair Plus shop, whereas the latter is where he relocated his first shop.)
The Hair Plus Team
In 2009, Nick partnered with hairdresser Suzi Mirra and her husband, Joe, at the Hillsborough Promenade location. Two years later, he partnered with Donna Cutts at his Nelson’s Corner location. Then, in an effort to enhance the quality of their services, the partners merged the two stores in 2018. Now, The Day Spa at Hair Plus is a single salon that can do it all.
“This is really a full-service salon and spa,” Nick says about the merger. “And that’s really the thrust behind separating ourselves from a typical hair salon or a sole spa. We do nails, hair, face, skin, massage. That’s what, I consider, is the advantage. We’re a ‘one-stop salon,’ so to speak.”
Though Nick no longer cuts hair himself, he still stays on top of the new styles and trends.
“Today, there are more barbershops than ever before,” he tells us. “They’re in tune with the new styles, and I love the new looks. I sort of wish I was back in there [cutting hair], but I’m not—I’m too old,” he adds, laughing.
Despite finding success on his own for so long, Nick modestly maintains that his partners are the main reasons behind Hair Plus’s success over the past decade.
“Between Suzi and Donna, they’re really the driving force behind the salon,” he admits. “They’re taking this business in a great direction. They have excellent ideas for this business, and I’m always saying, ‘Yes, I like that. Let’s do that.’”
A Major Milestone
In honor of Nick’s five decades as a local business owner, the Hillsborough Business Association and Mayor Frank Delcore awarded him with an honorable Certificate of Appreciation in November 2019.
Besides the Hillsborough salon, Nick also owns Hair Plus in Green Brook and co-owns the West Windsor shop. As a successful entrepreneur, he offers the following advice to aspiring young leaders:
“Our biggest challenge [as entrepreneurs] is really managing people; and then understanding the business itself, and then understanding and managing its finances,” he says. “So my advice is to learn as much as you can about your field; don’t underestimate [the hard work], and roll with the constant changes.”
However, running a business has more to offer than success. It’s also about the journey and the people you meet along the way.
“I certainly am very, very thankful for my career,” he says. “I’ve made some lifelong friends through the industry itself, and it’s been a really challenging but rewarding experience. I also appreciate the recognition, and there’s a great group of people alongside me who have helped make Hair Plus the outstanding establishment it is today.”
Visit The Day Spa at Hair Plus at 601 Route 206 in Hillsborough. For more info, or to make an appointment, visit their website or give them a call.
All Photos: © Patrick Lombardi / Best of NJ
