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Seng’s Salon has been serving generations of customers in Lower Moyamensing since first opening its doors in 1986
Established by Sengthong Sananikone, a Laotian immigrant, the salon centered on the Southeast Asian community and the need for hairstylists. Since she was already certified as a stylist in Laos, Sananikone decided to join her peers coming to the US and moved to Philly, learning English and getting her cosmetology license along the way.
Since then, she has been serving community members as one of the few small, family-owned businesses to open on that part of 7th Street.
Her grandson Derick said the salon has a long-standing, multigenerational customer base developed by the close relationships his family has built with clients, including attending family events and weddings in the community.
“This year, 2026, is our 40th anniversary,” he said. “It’s always been special to work with family. We’re very family-oriented, a loving and caring group of people. And when customers come into our salon, we want them to feel that family and close-knit bond.”
Despite initial language barriers, the salon attracted a diverse customer base, including members of the Italian community, who had been established in the neighborhood before Sananikone arrived.
Derick Sananikone said the neighborhood welcomed his grandmother with open arms. Still today, the salon has many clients of Italian descent.
The salon is currently managed by Derick’s mother, Sengdao “ Sandy” Sananikone alongside a Cambodian employee who was among the salon’s first staff members.
He’s stepped away from the business to work as a payroll manager and barista in New York City, and Sengthong Sananikone has since retired to Florida, though she occasionally returns to visit the salon and reconnects with community members.
“When people hear that she’s in town, they’re like, ‘Oh, call her up, I need a perm,’ or, ‘I want her to cut my hair,’ as they miss her,” he said.
The neighborhood has been filled with many more family-run businesses and has brought many people together.
“It’s just nice to see the loyal clients always coming back, and then they have kids, they bring their kids, and then their kids bring their kids. It’s a long running generational customer base, and even the older generations, you see them go, and it’s sad, but we’ve always been part of their family.”
As an important staple of the Lower Moyamensing neighborhood, the salon brings people together, whether it be a form of therapy, a place to hang out, or just a place to get to know each other.
“The community there has grown to be so diverse, and what really keeps us there is basically connecting to that community and having that relationship that we’ve always had, and it just keeps growing and growing.” Derick Sananikone stated.
He hopes that the salon will be remembered as the story of an immigrant family coming to the US and building something from nothing. Many community members have been inspired by the journey of the salon, where a play was written about the Sananikone family and the legacy of the salon.
Earlier this year, the salon inspired the InterAct Theatre Company to write and prodcue a play about Seng’s salon and the Southeast Asian community in Philly. Called “ Seng’s Hair Salon”, the play touched on family sacrifice, family trauma and the legacy of where the salon will be heading in the future.
Although Derick Sananikone has his own dreams, he hopes to open up his own Southeast Asian cafe in Philly and still be in the same neighborhood. Along with the salon’s success, he hopes people still support small businesses and how it has brought people together no matter where they came from.
