Testing Hair Dye, 1966

In 1955, Leonard and Bernice Lavin bought Alberto-Culver Co. from Blaine Culver and moved it from Los Angeles to Chicago. Before the move, Alberto-Culver already had become a leading supplier of hair care products to the entertainment industry. The company built a new plant and headquarters in Melrose Park in 1960, and annual sales of products such as shampoos and deodorants rose from $25 million in 1961 to $100 million in 1964. In 1969, the company bought a 10-store retail chain called “Sally Beauty,” which would grow over the next 30 years to a network of over 2,000 stores. By 2002, still based in Melrose Park, Alberto-Culver grossed about $2.6 billion in annual sales and employed about 1,400 people in the Chicago area and almost 17,000 worldwide.

This entry is part of the Encyclopedia's Dictionary of Leading Chicago Businesses (1820-2000) that was prepared by Mark R. Wilson, with additional contributions from Stephen R. Porter and Janice L. Reiff.