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NEW ORLEANS - Jeanette Solomon was always an "off-the-record" type of person.
Although she'd always give an opinion and a quote on an industry topic, she preferred to be an unidentified source. So, it was no surprise that Solomon, who died Sunday, Sept. 10, at a hospice here at the age of 86, never fully disclosed she had been suffering from several cancers. According to her daughter, Marian Solomon, she didn't want people crying and weeping.
Solomon was always the type that would prefer a glass be raised in her honor. And on Thursday evening, several friends and associates did that at K&B Plaza in New Orleans.
She was perhaps the last remaining of the grand dames of mass market beauty retailing, including Solomon, Ruth Wolfgang of Eckerd and Mildred Arnold of Thrifty, who created the architecture of today's contemporary beauty departments.
She was always willing to take new buyers under her wing, especially at meetings which could be daunting for "newbies" as she called them. Rite Aid's Judy Wray was once such a new face on the scene and they became close over the years. "All I can say is that I loved her very much and will miss her even more," said Wray upon Solomon's death. "She was one-of-a-kind and the end of an era, which everyone should remember but so...