GUILDERLAND — Jean Paul Salon, which was part of the historic migration from downtown commercial districts to suburban malls, was celebrated on Thursday morning at Stuyvesant Plaza.

The salon joins 119 other businesses on the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry.

“Jean Claude founded this salon 51 years ago with a goal of fostering a sense of community and promoting an environment where everyone could look and feel beautiful,” said Amanda O’Hearn, the salon’s owner.

Brothers Jean Claude and Paul Simille opened a business on Central Avenue in Albany in 1972 that merged both of their names: Jean Paul Coiffures. In 1976, they opened a second location in Albany’s DeWitt Clinton building. Then, a decade later, after Paul Simille moved to Colorado, Jean Claude opened in Stuyvesant Plaza, expanding to a day spa and wellness center. In 2012, he opened a third location in Loudonville.

O’Hearn purchased Jean Paul Spa and Salons in 2018, after working with Jean Claude for eight years. Last year, the business opened another salon in North Greenbush.

The nomination for the registry was made by Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy. At Thursday’s event, Fahy commented on “the trauma that so many people and businesses went through during … the height of COVID.

“Every business deserves a medal just for the perseverance and the hoops, the logistics, everything they went through just to keep the doors open,” Fahy said.

But Jean Paul went beyond just staying open, Fahy said. “They’ve grown. They’ve remodeled.”

O’Hearn said she wanted to continue Jean Claude’s legacy and credited her “amazing team and incredible clients.”

Two Guilderland Town Board members, Amanda Beedle and Jacob Crawford, were on hand to commend Jean Paul as was Sandra Dollard who once owned a business in Stuyvesant Plaza and now heads the Guilderland Chamber of Commerce, which she noted is the same age as Jean Paul.

Kathleen Howe, director of the Community Preservation Services Bureau of the state’s Office of Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, said, “Local businesses like Jean Paul are the backbone of our villages, our towns, our cities large and small across New York state.”

Small businesses, Howe said, help shape the history, the heritage, and the identity of the communities they serve.

The state’s historic preservation registry was founded in 2020, she noted, and “reflects the diverse mix of businesses.”

Nominations, made by elected state officials like Fahy, are accepted on a rolling basis. Each must have been in operation for at least 50 years and have contributed to their community’s history, according to the Office of Parks website.

Howe noted that the website includes an interactive map and said that Jean Paul would be the first day spa on the registry although there is already one barber shop.

“That’s ours, too,” called out Fahy, who last year nominated Patsy’s Barber Shop on Howard Street in Albany, which was established in 1930.

Fahy said of both Patsy’s and Jean Paul, “This is about health and wellness as well.”

One of the lessons learned during the pandemic, Fahy said, is to “practice a little self-care.”