Western Daily Press (Saturday)
‘Quietest it’s ever been’ for barbers as their business suffers brutal cut
The coronavirus pandemic has spared no business, wreaking havoc throughout the economy, and, as Conor Gogarty reports, even the trusty barber’s has been hit badly, with once-loyal customers staying away in their droves
PETER has been running a barber’s shop in the Bristol suburb of Bedminster since 1967, but he says the business has never been quieter than in recent months.
Hairdressing is often seen as a largely “recession-proof” trade. No matter what happens, people will surely always need haircuts, the reasoning goes.
But the question now facing barabsence bers is whether their businesses are pandemic-proof.
Barbers were allowed to reopen from lockdown on April 12, yet when the Western Daily Press visited four across Bristol last week, all said they were still seeing far fewer customers than before the pandemic.
Whether people are anxious over Covid safety, or are now used to their partner cutting their hair, or the of nights out means less incentive to get a trim, the impact has been felt by barbers.
The Original Peter’s Barber Shop is a 54-year-old North Street institution, but its future will be under threat if trade does not improve, says its owner.
“It’s the quietest it’s ever been, by a long way,” Peter says. “It’s a new way of life. Nothing is normal anymore.”
His employee, Romona, is finishing a man’s haircut as we enter the shop on a Tuesday afternoon.
For the rest of our 15 minutes inside, there are no customers to compete with us for the attentions of the pair.
Peter, who does not wish to give his surname, estimates the shop is getting about 15 cuts on an average weekday. He reckons that is about 40 per cent of pre-lockdown levels, possibly lower.
When we say it would be a huge shame to see the historic business close, he replies: “People don’t think of it like that. But we do have some loyal customers. That’s what keeps us going.”
Romona, 40, adds: “The routine is changing. Before, people might come in once a month. Now it might be once every two months. This is a hard period, for sure.”
When she says that all barber shops are in the same boat, Peter jokes ruefully: “And that boat is taking in water.”
Although he relies less than city centre barbers on office workers’ custom, and there is no shortage of homes near his shop, Peter does not believe there has been much benefit from people spending more time in their own neighbourhood during the pandemic.
“We are residential, but there’s no one here,” he says, gesturing to the empty shop.
“I honestly don’t know why it is so quiet. I wish I knew. I like to think things could get better again. Yes, I would be upset [if the shop closed], but what can you do?”
Romona believes growing competition has also been a factor in the business’s struggles. She thinks Bristol City Council should limit the
I honestly don’t know why it is so quiet. I wish I knew. I like to think things could get better again. Yes, I would be upset [if the shop closed], but what can you do? PETER, OF THE ORIGINAL PETER’S BARBER SHOP
number of barbers permitted to open in the area, although the council says it does not have the ability to do this.
“About five have opened in North Street in the last year or so,” Peter adds.
Terry Joyce and Andy Gould are both occupied with customers when we visit the British Barber Company in The Mall, Clifton Village, but they say business has generally been quiet.
“It will pick up on a bank holiday weekend, but on a normal weekend it’s not great at the moment,” says Terry as he snips away.
The 27-year-old laughs: “I am still doing the odd correction. I had this guy on Saturday whose girlfriend has been doing his hair the last year and she got a bit overconfident.
“I was looking at it before I started and thinking, ‘Is that just the style?’ She’d accidentally shaved patches out of his hair. It looked like tramlines.”
Business is down about 50 per cent on pre-pandemic levels, reckons Terry, who adds: “If you’d asked me two weeks ago I would say we were at 35 to 40 per cent, but it’s picked up a bit.”
Andy, 58, is cutting the hair of a young man whose last trim was only a couple of weeks before, his thick hair needing regular attention. The norm has been much longer waits between haircuts.
“People are having longer hair and
quite enjoying it,” says Andy. “I don’t think that will last, mind.
“I think the fact that none of the nightclubs are open is a big part of it. Although it’s getting better now that restaurants and pubs are open, you still won’t get people going ‘out out’.”
With both barbers wearing face masks and plastic visors, the shop’s Covid measures are clearly very stringent, but Terry believes that anxiety about safety has been a factor.
“I think a lot of people are still a bit worried,” he says. “A guy yesterday had long hair, and I asked him why he’d left it so long to get it cut. He said he was waiting to have both injections.”
Andy chips in: “I am double-vaccinated. If you want a healthy haircut, sit in this chair.”
Pointing towards his colleague, he jokes: “I don’t know what you will get in that chair.”
Terry quips back: “You won’t catch Covid off him but you might catch something else.”
The quick-witted double act are optimistic the shop will be busier in the longer term, particularly after nightclubs reopen.
The British Barber Company also has a branch on Wine Street in the city centre, where office workers are the main customers.
“We are a bit more dependent on local people here [in Clifton],” says Terry. “At the moment, it’s busier in the week here, but maybe a bit busier towards the weekend in the city centre.”
In the city centre branch, manager Omar Ragragui tells me it has been “a bit of a struggle”.
The 23-year-old adds: “Maybe it’s because there is nothing going on, no nights out. The last couple of weeks it has picked up a bit, but it’s hard to tell if that will continue. You have a busy week and then it goes a bit quiet again for two or three weeks.
“Most of the office workers are working from home instead of coming here. We used to get a lot of people who’d come in from a different city.”
When this reporter admits he used to get his hair cut in the city centre but now has it done closer to home, Omar says: “This is what I mean. I think places like Whiteladies Road will be doing a bit better because they have a lot of locals.”
Are more people cutting their hair themselves?
“I wouldn’t necessarily say that, but maybe during Covid they left it long and now they don’t cut it as much, or maybe they just shave it right off at home,” says Omar.
“Maybe they realise how much it costs to get your hair done. There are
some people who get their hair cut every five days. We are talking about £90 a month.”
Despite the dip in trade, Omar says he is optimistic that things will eventually get back to normal.
Opposite the shop on Wine Street is another barber’s, Men’s Cave. Inside is Victor Ciocotoiu, who has worked there for a couple of months.
He tells me it is his third barber job since the first lockdown, previous stints not lasting due to the instability of trade and the lockdowns.
The 22-year-old estimates that business is down by about 40 per cent on what would normally be expected.
He adds: “Many people come in with a bad haircut. I don’t know if they have been afraid to come into contact with people in the barber’s.
“Some people may do a home haircut but they will not do that forever. Everybody says they found it so hard and that they did a bad job. Most of them just do the sides.”
Victor says the shop has relied heavily on students, adding: “If it wasn’t for them we would have much, much less business.”
Like his fellow barbers, he is placing a lot of hope in the reopening of nightclubs and people’s desire to “get prepared for the night”.
“I think, slowly, we will get back to normal over the next couple of months.”