Small Business Focus: The Old Time Barber Shop, Pt 2

Customer Don Turner and Donna Mess, owner of
The Old Time Barber Shop

This post is part 2 of a 2-part series. Part 1 may be read here.

WHAT BARBERING IS REALLY ALL ABOUT

It turns out that the “old time” shops for men and boys had an advantage that no one recognized:
 they were as much about community as they were about getting a haircut and a shave.

Guys dropped in without an appointment. If you had to wait, that was okay because it was a good time to talk and catch up with friends and neighbors. Barber chairs were positioned so that conversation was easy and natural.

The shops were like small newsrooms. In addition to the tools of the barber’s trade, the shelves were lined with local sports, military, police, and fire memorabilia. Walls contained newspaper clippings about local events and celebrities.

You always knew when the shop was open, and you knew not to come by on a Sunday or Monday. Barber shops were closed those days, a requirement stipulated by the union. That way shop owners and employees got at least two days off each week. Sunday was off for church. Monday was off because it was usually a slow day anyway.

IT’S THE NEW OLD DAYS ALL OVER AGAIN

Vintage 1930's barber chair manufactured by the
Eugene Berninghaus Co., Cincinnati, Ohio.

Donna Mess knew all this and decided to take a shot at bringing back some of the old-time appeal. Trained as a barber with a personal liking for the homey feel of the mid-20th-century shops, she opened her first barber shop in 1990 not far from Harrison in neighboring Miamitown. As with most startup businesses, her beginnings were slow and difficult. After a few years, she voluntarily closed the shop and went to work cutting men’s and women’s hair in a nearby salon.

She worked for 10 years at the salon. The experience she gained was both helpful and motivating. She was soon ready to try again. She set up shop in Harrison and opened Old Time in 2004. This time things were different.

Donna liked the homey feel and personal touch of the old shops and adopted the same nostalgic approach. Her shop has “the look” with shoulder patches from area police stations, fire stations, and VFW posts lining 2 of 4 walls. The chairs are vintage 1930’s, made in Cincinnati by the Eugene Berninghaus Company, the first U.S. manufacturer of barber chairs.

Customer Joseph Huff gets a trim from
barber Johnathan Odom.

Donna’s new-old approach was right on time. After years of lost interest, a steadily growing number of customers had already begun returning to the old style of the barber shop. Many of these now streamed into her shop. Recently the increased business allowed Donna to bring son Johnathan Odom on staff. Johnathan also graduated from the Cincinnati School of Barbering (July 2016) and joined the shop immediately thereafter. Together, mother and son specialize in both traditional and modern haircuts for men and boys.

In a day of ultra-modern styles and booming salons, why this return to the look of a different era? Why does it work?

Just like the old shops had more to do with community than with hair, the answer has more to do with Mess than with the shifting currents of American culture and society.

“I love what I do,” says Donna emphatically. “And I wanted this to be a nostalgic, old-time shop!”

Her focus on creating a comfortable place has paid off. Area residents have taken to her commitment to classic style and her list of referred and returning customers continues to grow.

In recent years Donna also introduced a new service to her regular customers. Thursdays after 1:00 sees her attending to her standing clients wherever they are -- giving haircuts and shaves to the homebound, the temporarily hospitalized, and the permanently confined.

All because she loves what she does.

For more information about The Old Time Barber Shop, visit the company Facebook page. The Old Time Barber Shop is located at 1373 Stone Drive, Harrison OH 45030 (513-202-9777).

The Old Time Barbershop, Harrison, Ohio.