Hair they go
Straight Edge Barbers a blend of old and new school styles
Last month, after a combined 66 years working at the Central Barber Shop in the Avalon Mall, Barry Cutler and Linda Scanlon said goodbye to what had been a second home and opened their own shop, Straight Edge Barbers.
Last month, after a combined 66 years working at the Central Barber Shop in the Avalon Mall, Barry Cutler and Linda Scanlon said goodbye to what had been a second home and opened their own shop, Straight Edge Barbers. “I should have done it a long time ago,” says Cutler, who has been cutting and coifing at the mall since 1979 after graduating from the old College of Trades and Technology in St. John’s. “Customers were coming in and saying, ‘Barry, what are you doing here, you’ve got enough clientele to start your own.’”
Admittedly, Cutler is a man set in his ways and, like many of his clients, he’s a bit resistant to change. But with enough prodding from long-time customers and Scanlon, who had scouted the location that was once a beauty salon, the decision was made to move.
Of course, leaving a place that was a home away from home for so many years wasn’t easy for either of them, but from Scanlon’s perspective it got easier in recent years.
“Up until a couple of years ago, one of our bosses … he passed away and we just never had the same feeling,” she says of Frank Maloney, who died in 2014 after 47 years of working at the mall. “It was always something missing.”
In the short time since, other former co-workers died or retired, and it just never felt the same going to work, Scanlon says.
“There was only three of us left from when I first started,” she says, noting Charlie Lamkin as the only remaining holdout, fast approaching his 50th year at the shop.
When they said goodbye to the mall in June, Chris Butt, a 10-year veteran of the comb and clippers, and Andrew Hébert, a relative newcomer to the trade, joined them.
“Andrew’s only new, but he’s come a long way,” Scanlon says. “He’s eager to learn.
“Chris has got such a big clientele, from little ones right on up. He’s doing really well with it.”
Both are graduates of Keyin College’s hairstyling program and are grateful for the opportunity to be part of the new shop and the chance to learn from Cutler and Scanlon.
“When you go to school, it’s one thing, but when you get on the job, I can literally say I learned everything,” says Butt, a 33-year-old from Clarke’s Beach who has been fascinated with the idea of cutting hair since his early teenage years.
“With their guidance, making sure I’m on the right track, they have been there for that, and Barry and Linda have been nothing but supportive,” says Hébert, 30, who spent the majority of his 20s as a plumber before taking a leap of faith.
Having barbers from different generations lends the new shop a degree of diversity that’s not easily matched by the competition.
“You’ve got old school and new school, you can’t go wrong with a bit of both,” says Hébert. “The atmosphere is great, the energy is great and we’re all on the same page. We want to make people look good and we’re having fun doing it.”
Cutler’s clients, many of whom have put their trust in him for decades, can be assured of getting the same cut they’re accustomed to, while newer, often younger customers can get a more modern-style cut from Hébert, Butt or even Scanlon.
“All these razor cuts are coming back, these skin fades, and we’re bombarded with them. There are days I can go through a dozen for sure, and not many regular cuts,” says Scanlon, who, along with Hébert, recently completed a modern barbering course.
“You’ve got to keep up with the times. I’m pretty visual. I can look at a picture and I can do it.”
As barbershops purists, however, some things remain old school.
“We don’t take appointments, it’s walk in, which is the way it should be,” Cutler says.
Cutler and Scanlon love their work and pleasing their customer and they appreciate the opportunity to impart some wisdom on their younger coworkers, but you can also count them among the experienced barbers who are concerned with the direction of their industry.
“They don’t teach it anymore and it needs to be out there, someone has to bring it forward. It should still be in the trade school, especially nowadays,” says Cutler.
“Now it’s called hairstyling where they do it all. They branch off for a week or two for barbering.”
Most shocking and disconcerting to both is that barbering is no longer considered a trade and that so many people without the necessary experience are getting involved.
Scanlon, for her part, supports the idea of a licence that needs to be renewed annually as is the case in many parts of Canada.
“Like everything else, it’s an accredited course. You should have your diplomas displayed,” she insists. “Like every other trade, same as electrician or a plumber, you should be qualified in your trade. You should have your proper training.”
As they approached a fullmonth in operation, Cutler says business has grown week after week.
“I knew it was there, because I’ve got enough clientele myself and between us all we’ve got enough clientele, but surprisingly we’re getting our own customers from Central, but we’re also getting customers that weren’t going to anybody at Central,” he says.
He credits his daughter’s decision to create a Facebook page and a sharp-looking website for the new shop as reasons people are flocking to it.
“The place has been hopping,” says Hébert. “It just goes to show how great these people are.”