Shear madness at night barbers
In Birkenhead just after midnight, Corbin Harkness, 17, and his younger brother were the first to get a fresh cut from BarberShopCo.
Their father Philip Harkness said they had been coming to BarberShopCo since it first opened on the street and they wanted to support local.
Harkness said it was exciting to sneak out and do something.
He said the haircuts at the barber were always good but this one would be considered 10/10, no matter what.
The first order through the till would have been $95 — Harkness paying $35 for his own haircut and $30 for each of his boys.
Next in the line to see the clippers were Naz Wallace, 18, and Will Morton, 17. Morton said: “Why wouldn’t you?
“It seemed like a good idea about an hour ago.”
They were among the many who welcomed in level 2 yesterday morning. More than a dozen customers waited patiently in line on the North Shore’s Birkenhead Ave to get a haircut — and the queues were still pumping at 3am.
BarberShopCo CEO Adam Johanson said it was overwhelming to see the support.
“It’s been tough, we’ve been working from home but for our barbers they couldn’t.”
It had been a “long stretch” but it was now time for rebuilding the business, he said.
Self-described “passionate Birkenhead local” Scott Cordes headed another queue at B & M Barbers and said he would have been happy to be there at 3am to show his support.
No matter what, they would all be “coming out of this place looking like Elvis”, he said. He told the Herald there were plenty of barbers and hairdressers in the village. “We are the haircut capital of New Zealand.”
Kae Condon, head of the Birkenhead Village Town Centre Association, said the stores were following the rules on physical distancing. Earlybird customers had their choice of BarberShopCo, Bob the Barber and B & M Barbers as the three stores opened in unison.
Once inside it is not quite the experience you’re used to — hairdressers wore appropriate protective equipment and minimised contact as much as possible.
But it prompted plenty of smiles behind the masks.
“The boys have said we will cut until there are no more customers,” Condon said.