Fitting wigs with purpose and style

Jenny Thompson, manager of Anita’s Wig Shop, was happy to relocate her business from Hoover to Inverness and open up new possibilities and services for women and men in the area.

Anita’s Wig Shop has been in business in Birmingham for over 20 years. The shop was previously located in the Riverchase Galleria and Patton Creek, before the recent move to Inverness.

“Anita retired and left a great legacy,” Thompson said of the original owner. “She sold the shop, which is now under new ownership, but the new owner kept the same name.”

While the new owner prefers to do behind-the-scenes work, Thompson and her coworker, Sally Blackerby, are the faces of the shop.

Operating as both an online and brick-and-mortar store, Anita’s Wig Shop is part of an industry that is important for a number of reasons. Thompson explained that purchasing a wig can be a confusing and emotional undertaking.

At first, the choices of many different features, fibers and constructions can be overwhelming, but Thompson and Blackerby are there to serve customers through the sometimes-surreal process.

“We are there to help you find what you need in order to get you the best fit, features and wig that you need,” Thompson said. 

Clients can browse the website first for the selections, then visit the store and try them on. If they are interested in a different feature, texture or color, that can be ordered. The shop keeps several hundred wigs in stock.

Currently, Anita’s carries 10 collections: nine for women and one for men. However, these collections change based on customer’s needs and unique fit as well.

Thompson said the Raquel Welch Collection is the best-selling collection, while the regular synthetic and heat-friendly synthetics are also top sellers.

“The reasons for [customers] coming into the shop are numerous,” Thompson said. “The responses I often hear include hair thinning, hair loss, thyroid and hormone-related issues, auto-immune, medication side effects, shoulder surgery, traveling on vacation, convenience for women that are caretakers and confidence/looks.”

Often, patients from Grandview Cancer Center will have treatments and hair prosthesis procedures and then make a stop at the shop afterwards, Thompson said.

“It’s an emotional thing to lose hair,” she said. “These women and their situations pull at our heartstrings. Wig shopping can be healing, and there’s a big community of ‘wig sisters’ waiting to befriend you.”

Thompson said her duty at Anita’s Wig Shop is to make her clients feel better and more confident after walking out of the shop.

In addition to wigs, the shop offers hats with hair attached, turbans, toppers (women’s toupees to help with hair thinning on top), hair extensions, clip-in pony tops and up-do ponytails.

Working at Anita’s Wig Shop over the last five years has become meaningful work for Thompson, and she knows the clients have gone through so much.

“We are excited to bring the services to this side of town and to answer any questions that seem Greek to anyone. It is its own niche, and we are educators and not salespeople,” she said.