It’s a new shop based on an old idea. The barber shop, a customer in the chair, others waiting their turn. The hair gets cut and the bull gets shot. Barber shops were plentiful through the early 70s, then fell out of fashion. But they are making a return. Many say because it’s simple, and well, it’s a guy place.
“It’s a back to basics thing. Guys want to get back to a nostalgic thing. That’s the sense I got,” says Don Overton, Charlevoix Barber Shop.
And it’s not all grandpas that want the simplicity of a haircut and a shave, yes the shave, a ritual of sorts. The young fellas come in, too.
Don just opened in January and he’s new to the trade. Coming off being a stay-at-home dad and not wanting to get back in the work he once did, he took the advice of a friend who is a barber and enrolled in barber school. Not sure, he found he really enjoyed being in school and seeing how a haircut can change a person.
“Like the homeless people, folks who live in homes. They would come in and the excitement that they would have from a haircut, making them feel so much better about themselves, telling me they could go see family because of a haircut. It was an amazing feeling, and I knew it was the right job,” says Don.
Don, the new barber in Charlevoix, is bringing back a service that has been missing. He says when the barber pole is spinning, he’s open, come on in! Kip Foster remembers the days of the barber shop, and he’s glad Don decided to open up.
“On a Saturday morning, it was a place to congregate. I heard a lot of BSing, and politics, and sports, and sailing and that sort of thing. It was a good place to be as a kid,” says Kip.
And it is once again!
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