ABOUT
THE OWNER
Sofia Perez (born Sofia Jimenez) was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in 1961. After defecting from her home country, as a young girl, she moved to Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1968. Although she had no idea at the time, her voyage to the United States would set the stage for her being at the forefront of the Hair Salon and Beauty Industry, being an innovator and one of its leaders!
During her high school years, she began to discover her passion for hair. After graduating from Elizabeth High School, in 1979, she took a bigger interest in the hair and beauty industry, graduated beauty school in 1982, and went to work for Gilbert Febles at Virgos NJ hair salon.
After devoting a handful of years to Virgos NJ hair salon, Sofi was finally ready to venture out on her own, giving birth to the Sofis Color Lounge; a hair salon brand. In 1988, the first Sofis hair salon (Formerly Sofis Hair Club) was born. After a very successful 5 year run, the salon fell prey to complications, from a fire to the next-door furniture warehouse. The flooding that occurred was far too much to handle and unfortunately, Sofi and her NJ hair salon were forced to relocate.
Sofis then moved to Route 1 - 9, in Elizabeth. Sofi and her NJ hair salon continued to grow- both in following and in reputation. During this time, Sofi and her family also moved to South Jersey. If the workload of being both a busy hair stylist and owner of a high-traffic hair salon wasn't enough, the one-hour commute was also very taxing. Though the hair salon was thriving, Sofi wanted to devote more time to her family, so she decided to sell the beauty parlor, and continue on as a hairstylist. Sofi tried to make her home in various NJ hair salons, but the traffic she generated always seemingly came to be too much for the beauty salon owners to handle. With that being said, the inevitable time came for Sofi to open one more place to call her own.
Enter 1997 and the historic downtown of Cranford, New Jersey. The perfect timing and stars aligning set the stage for the opening of Sofis Color Lounge of Cranford. To say that the move to Cranford rejuvenated Sofi is an understatement. In the past 26 years, Sofis Color Lounge has grown into one of the most influential hair salons in the region. In 2008, Sofis Color Lounge expanded, opening a location in Summit, NJ, furthering the stronghold on the hair service industry, in the tri-state area. Later in 2016, Westfield opened its arms to Sofi, opening her 3rd location in the heart of downtown Westfield. Fast forward to today, and Sofis Color Lounge is still thriving. Unfortunately due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Sofis in Summit has officially closed but Cranford and Westfield still hold strong. Sofi's daughter Christine, following in her mother's footsteps, is now the new owner of Sofis in Cranford. Sofi and her team remain in Downtown Westfield and still have every client leaving feeling beautiful.