Novato hairstylist retires after 50-year run

A Novato hairstylist and business owner is packing up her shears and scissors for retirement after over 50 years on the job.

Rosalie Artigiani Pozzi, the proprietor of Rosalie’s Beauty Salon, said that after turning 70 years old, “it’s just time.”

“I’m going to miss all my people. I’ve done generations of families and I love them all,” said Artigiani Pozzi, a resident of Petaluma. “I took a whole lifetime collecting the best people and now I have to give them away. That’s what’s hurting my heart. It’s been a family and that’s what I’m going to miss the most.”

Her business at 959 Front St. was the focal point for a community based around Artigiani Pozzi’s boisterous and magnetic personality. The clients — men and women, adults and children — often stuck around for years, even decades.

“There will never be another place like it in Novato,” said Terri Brown, Artigiani Pozzi’s niece and one of the stylists at the business.

“It was unique in the fact she did everything — shampoo sets on the older customers to Brazilian Blowouts, and even mermaid hair colors,” Brown said. “Our clients were like family and Rosalie always made it fun.”

The business closed on Dec. 30. Artigiani Pozzi said her final haircut there was for her granddaughter, Italia Thornhill, who was receiving her first haircut.

“It was perfect,” Artigiani Pozzi said.

Artigiani Pozzi said she is “proud” to have operated a business for half a century in Marin, and doing so as a working single mother.

“When I bought the salon I thought I would own it for a few years, meet my husband and he would take care of me and our family,” she said. “But I took care of everyone. I was self-reliant and it took 50 years for the job to get done. ”

Artigiani Pozzi is a San Francisco native who went to beauty school in the city. She moved to Marin at the age of 18 and worked at Toby’s Salon on Grant Avenue in Novato. After about a year, the owner decided to retire and sold the business to Artigiani Pozzi, who was only 20 years old.

The business stayed at that location for 31 years, she said. In 2004, new owners purchased the building, and she relocated to the Front Street site.

Ruth Wyley, a customer from Novato, said she had been visiting Artigiani Pozzi since 1975.

“My mother and I went to Rosalie’s every Saturday at 9,” she said. “Rosalie’s was the meeting place where I met and still have dear friends. It was a fun ride and I will miss the time there. There were many wonderful memories.”

Another customer, Pat Thompson of Fairfax, said she has been a customer for most of Artigiani Pozzi’s career.

“A woman needs a good hairdresser,” Thompson said. “She’s always been there for me. I do not know what I’m going to do without her. I wish her much enjoyment in her retirement, she deserves it.”

Artigiani Pozzi said that in retirement she plans to focus on art projects and possible vending. She said that before any plans get set, however, she plans to take a long vacation.