When Teddie Kossof first ventured into the salon industry, he had high hopes for himself and his business.

Forty years later, Teddie Kossof Salon and Spa has become a mainstay on the North Shore, but after four decades Kossof is still thinking about the future.

“It’s been quite a ride,” Kossof said. “If the right thing comes along, we’ll continue to expand. It’s not over yet.”

In January, the business was named to the Salon Today 200 by Salon Today magazine. The 200 selected salons were honored for best business practices cited in nominations submitted by readers representing the 20,000 top-producing salons and spas in the country, the magazine said.

The salon employs 40 stylists, nine nail technicians, nine colorists, four aestheticians, three masseuses and two makeup artists, and provides numerous services to its clients.

A Niles East High School graduate who was raised in Skokie, Kossof always considered himself to have a creative mind; however, using those skills to open a salon was not part of the original plan.

With his mother, Evelyn, working in a salon, a young Kossof would often visit her at work.

“When I was a kid, I would go over there because I wanted to use her car,” Kossof said. “She said, ‘Fine, if you brush out these heads, tease hair, etc.’ When I walked in, she usually had eight or nine clients with rollers in their hair. That’s how I got introduced to the business.”

A wrestler and football player in high school, Kossof accepted a scholarship to Southern Illinois University, but a disagreement with his football coach led him back home to the northern suburbs.

While he considered enrolling in a design school, Kossof chose to attend beauty school in the North Shore.

After graduating, he worked for several salons in Skokie along Dempster Street, but always had the goal of opening his own business.

In 1975, Teddie’s Hair Designers opened in Northfield, but he changed the name to Teddie Kossof Salon five years later. After purchasing the building, he continued to look for ways to expand his ever-growing business.

“I consider myself a forward thinker,” Kossof said. “I try to figure out what’s coming and what the next trend might be. When I bought the building, we brought in the dentist and medical part. Now we have a new spa opening in the next month or so.”

Through the years, the salon has evolved to include its current spa and the wellness center, which offers services from cosmetic dentistry and cosmetic surgery, while selling Kossof’s own line of custom-made beauty products.

“I’m very interested in the medical aspect of health and fitness,” Kossof said. “I believe in taking care of yourself, having the right foods and having the right attitude. Our vision is the salon is capable of doing much more.”

Today, Teddie Kossof Salon and Spa serves nearly 1,500 clients each week inside it’s three-story complex on Waukegan Road.