Our History Runs Deep
Our Colleges have been established training institutions in Edmonton and Calgary, Alberta since 1925.The ownership has changed a few times since then but the commitment to education has remained the same. Frank Cairo owned and operated 11 hair salons, known as Cairo Hairstylists in the city of Edmonton prior to purchasing the colleges in 1975. He became aware of the educational needs of the industry through his experiences in national and international beauty industry activities. During his career, Frank Cairo traveled extensively as a student, stylist, competitor and educator throughout Europe and North America. Frank Cairo competed in international competitions against many acclaimed stylists of the time, reaching the pinnacle of competitive success with the World Supreme victory in 1970.
In 1975, Frank Cairo purchased both the Edmonton and Calgary Marvel Beauty Schools, which offered training only in Hairstyling. Being from Europe and during his competitive traveling throughout Europe, Frank observed a growing trend before many in North America. So, in 1978 he expanded the program training to include Esthetics. Then in 1987 Fashion Design was added to the program list and soon Marvel Beauty Schools became Marvel College. Marvel College expanded to Red Deer, Alberta in 1980, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan (as Marca College) in 1989, Kelowna, B.C. in 1997 and Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2006. In 2000, in order to bring all the colleges under a common name, MC College was born.
MC College Group was purchased by Frank’s sons, Joe and Dino Cairo. Both had been raised in the business since they were 10 and now over 30 years later providing new energy and leadership while still committing to the delivery of the best education possible.
1925 – 1975
Russel Towle opened a chain of Beauty Schools across Canada named ‘Marvel Beauty School’.
Letitia Albrecht purchased ‘Marvel Beauty School’ in Calgary and 2 in Edmonton from Russel Towle.
The Start of MC. Italian born Hairstylist & Entrepreneur, Frank Cairo, purchased the Calgary and Edmonton Schools from Letitia Albrecht. ‘Marvel Beauty School’ became ‘Marvel College’.
1980 – 1997
Expanded to Red Deer
Expanded to Saskatoon (formerly known as Marca College)
Expanded to Kelowna
2000 – present
The real reason we’re not Marvel College or Marca College. In 2000, the schools were taken over by Frank Cairo’s sons, Joe & Dino.
Expanded to Winnipeg. With 6 campuses under different names (Marvel and Marca), each location rebranded as ‘MC College’ to ensure that each school shared a common name.
Throughout the years our name has changed several times but what hasn’t changed are the values that make us who we are. These values influence what we do, how we do it and why we do it.
