Beverly Mascoll

Beverly Mascoll was a community advocate and the founder of Mascoll Beauty Supply Ltd., a distributor of beauty products for Black people and people of colour. Mascoll started the business out of her car in 1970 and grew it into a highly successful organization with stores across Toronto and clients nationwide., After graduating from high school, she worked at Toronto Barber and Beauty Supply. At the time, beauty products for Black people and people of colour were hard to find in Canada. Customers would often travel to border cities like Buffalo (New York) to buy hair products and makeup to match their skin tone., In the early 1970s, Mascoll opened the first Mascoll Beauty Supply store at 870 Bathurst Street, north of Bloor Street. The company expanded to have multiple Toronto stores and provide products to major chains like Shoppers Drug Mart, Eaton's, and Simpsons. By the 1990s, the business was one of the largest of its kind in Canada., Mascoll was a supporter of the Black community. In 1996, she set up a foundation to support youth, women, and minorities. Among many honours, she received the Order of Canada (1998).