The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
New barber shop open for business
With barber shops making a comeback, Richard Rossi and Angel Vargas’s family business is expanding the timehonored tradition to Oneida.
Rossi studied under his father Vargas for around seven to eight years, learning the trade and working at the Canastota Barber Shop with him. On Nov. 1, Rossi and Vargas opened the doors to the Oneida Barber Shop on 115 E. Railroad St.
“We’re both owners, 50 percent,” Rossi said. “He has the Canastota shop and this is their branch off. This is our second full week.”
Rossi said while they have had a few new walk-ins, they have mostly been servicing overflow clients from their Canastota branch.
Among those long-time clients is Brooke Bennett, of Rome. Her husband has known Rossi since high school and has been cutting their son Hudson’s hair since he was eight months old. Now three years old, Hudson has only gotten his hair cut at a barber shop.
“It’s good to be supporting a family-owned, local business,” Bennett said. “Hudson has been going to Canastota for years, but this is the first time coming here.”
“We’re looking to branch out and get people in Oneida to figure our we’re here,” Rossi said. “I think once we get them here, they won’t want to go anywhere else.”
Vargas’s brother-in-law, Dean Stoker, was among many of the people sitting in the Oneida Barber Shop lobby, reading a magazine and listening to the radio while his adopted son Charlie got his hair cut. Stoker said the atmosphere of a Saturday morning visit to the barber shop is more personal than elsewhere.
“They know everybody when they walk in the door, what kind of haircut they get and they can talk to them about their family or daily lives,” Stoker said. “It’s
just that special interaction of a traditional barber shop.”
Joining Charlie was his friend Lawrence Pavo, of Oneida. Pavo normally gets his hair cut at the Parkway Barber Shop in Canastota, he said, and enjoys the barber shop atmosphere because it’s more calm and relaxing.
“There isn’t people everywhere,” Pavo said. “It’s just more calm.”
“I think the local barber shops are being sought out by guys and making a comeback,” Rossi said. “It’s like a men’s club or a place where people can talk and not worry about offending. It’s the one place you can talk freely.”
Pavo said he hasn’t gotten his hair cut at the Oneida Barber Shop yet, but thinks he will in the future.
Joining Rossi and Vargas at the Oneida Barber Shop as a full-time barber is Oneida local Nick Hart, who found his love of barber shops at a young age.
“I’ve been getting my hair cut at barber shops since I was 12 years old,” Hart said. “I always loved the barber shop atmosphere and I knew that was something I’d like to work and enjoy being at work.”
During his first week of school, Hart said he fell in love with the job and knew this was what he wanted to do in the future. Hart said he went to barber school for the 4 and a half months needed before taking his exam and being certified.
“The barber shop has become a trendy job. It’s coming back around,” Rossi said. “You don’t just see the older gentlemen as barbers anymore. I’m 27, Nick’s 20.”
Hart said people like him are starting to become the future of the barber scene; and should everything go to plan, the Oneida Barber Shop is hoping to help teach the next generation.
“We have big plans for the future now that we’ve opened,” Rossi said. “We’re actually going to open a barber school here. We’re in the process of getting that all squared away.”
Hart said being a barber doesn’t have to be a primary job, but a skill set someone can use for the rest of their life.
“Once you’re certified, you’re certified as long as you renew every four years,” Hart said. “You can go work a full time job and if you need some extra money, you can work on the weekend and make some money with a couple haircuts. It doesn’t have to be a primary job, but it’s cool to have it under your belt.”
After the first two weeks, Rossi said he feels things have been going well and is excited for the future in his hometown.
“I grew up two blocks from here, went to Oneida High School,” Rossi said. “I just recently bought a house in Oneida, so it all fits together. The city has been very supportive of us and I think they’re happy we’re bringing more business back to downtown.”