When I saw the ‘Theodora’s Wigs” sign as I was driving past in Fort Smith, Ark., this week, it took me back more than 55 years into an earlier life. So, I veered off Towson Ave., into the Phoenix retail center lot and parked outside the wig shot.
No, I wasn’t there to find some faux hair to cover my chrome dome.
Let me explain the back story.
In the fall of 1970, I was a senior at Southside High School in Fort Smith and worked at a small retail shop called Tom’s Levi’s in what was then known as the Phoenix Village Shopping Center. It was next door to Theodora’s Elegante Wigs.
Our shops were connected by a back hallway, so I became friends with Theodora’s owners, Thelma Faubus and her daughter, Linda. They were positive and upbeat and kind to this 17-year-old kid with little retail experience or maturity.
I worked at that shop until 1972, then went on to college and a newspaper career that eventually brought me to OKC. But my parents continued to live in Fort Smith, and that’s why I was in town this week, celebrating my widowed mom’s 92nd birthday.
Over the vast expanse of years, I’ve seen many changes to the Phoenix Village Shopping Center where Theodora’s is located and I once worked. One whole portion of the strip center across the parking lot from the wig shop was torn down. A grocery store on the west end of the center is long gone. The adjacent Phoenix Village Mall shut down and now is used as call center space by various companies. The center’s original developers died and ownership groups changed. The name of the strip center was shortened to just Phoenix Center.
Through it all, Theodora’s Elegante Wigs stayed in business, holding down the same tiny retail space it’s had since 1967.
That drew me in on this November day. When I parked and walked through Theodora’s door, there was Linda Faubus seated behind the counter. She is now Linda Lewis and she runs the shop as the sole owner in the wake of her mother’s passing a few years ago.
“Linda Faubus!” I said as I entered. “I’m Jim Stafford.”
She jumped up and gave me a big hug. I told her I was there to find out how the shop had stayed in business across all those years and amid changes the retail environment.
We were surrounded by mannequin heads covered by wigs of various colors and lengths. The shop looked almost exactly as I remembered from more than 50 years ago. Along with her late mother, Linda has owned the shop since 1967.
“How have you kept this shop going for almost 60 years,” I asked. “You’ve outlasted virtually ever business that was here in the 1970s and outlived most of their owners. What’s your secret to the longevity of your business?”
“it’s from making a lot of friends, being good to people and quality and service,” Linda said. “They like to come in here.”
Many longtime, loyal customers were drawn to the shop by her mother, Thelma, she said. I could see that because Thelma was such an upbeat personality and treated everyone with what you might call Southern charm.
Thelma passed away in 2016 at the age of 97.
“Everybody loved her, and that’s how you build a business” Linda said. “She was my role model and was a very attractive lady. You have to build on customer service and how you treat people.”
I looked around the shop. I wanted to know how business is in 2025. Linda has modernized enough to have a presence on Facebook.
“We’re busier now than we’ve ever been,” she said. “We have customers from all over, Oklahoma City, Little Rock, Fayetteville, Bella Vista. I can’t tell you how many people come in from Springdale.”
Who knew there was such a demand for wigs?
“There aren’t that many wig shops any more,” Linda said. “And people love to come in and try them on.”
Next door to the wig shop, in the space that Tom’s Levi’s once occupied, is a bridal shop.
“I can’t tell you have many businesses have been in that space,” she said. “A stereo shop, a business called The Gentry Shop and even a doll shop.”
With that, we said our goodbyes and I headed back to my car and on to OKC. One last glance at the Theodora’s Wigs sign as I drove away.
It seems that everything in this world has changed over the past 55 years, except Theodora’s Elegante Wigs. And that made me smile as I pulled back on to Towson Ave.
Not just a survivor, but a thriving business in a completely different generation.
Well done Linda (and Thelma).
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