“Barber Shop Near me” - A short guide for finding your perfect Barber Shop experience.
Have you ever had a bad haircut?
Have you ever been given a good haircut but had an awful or awkward time doing so?
What if I told you that there is a way to avoid these negative experiences altogether?
In this article were going to explain the common pitfalls of selecting a barbershop or hair stylist and provide you with insight on how to find your forever barber. No more "Barber Shop Near Me" searches and no more "Can you fix my haircut?" questions for you!
Let’s get right to it!
the top 4 things to look for when selecting a barber:
Price & Value of Services
Barbershop Culture & Atmosphere
Your Barber’s Level of Experience
Location & Availability
Price & Value of Services -
While most people would agree with the term “you get what you pay for” sometimes that is not the full story.
When it comes to the barber and hair stylist industry you may see a wide range of prices for a men’s haircut service. Some of these prices range from a free haircut performed by student at a barber school to a $200 service more akin to an all inclusive spa session.
But in this trade you may find that not every experience is equal to the cost, sometimes you may have a much more amazing experience at one shop or salon than you would at a seemingly comparable one.
An example for you: You received the exact same quality of haircut at two different shops. Shop 1 charged the national average rate of $25-$30 dollars and included blending your beard into your haircut, trimming your eyebrows, and a hot lather neck shave. They also offered you a complimentary drink and you had pleasant and engaging conversation with the barbers.
Shop 2 charged you only $20 and only took 15 minutes to completely finish however you only received the haircut and none of the add-ons. The barbers seemed rushed and the shop was too loud for conversation.
Which of these would you put more value in?
Sure the first barber shop cost more but you had a great experience.
But shop 2 cost less and took less time.
Only you could determine which experience was of the greater value for your money.
Barbershop Culture & Atmosphere -
Just like individual neighborhoods, barbershops have their own unique culture. This culture is what attracts (or sometimes detracts) their specific clientele. Barber shops and salons will typically be a reflection of the community that they are located in.
Some shops and salons are loud and boisterous. Music on the speakers, televisions playing above each station, customers chatting while waiting, and children whining.
Some shops and salons are quaint and peaceful. A spa like atmosphere, free from any distractions or noisey people or children.
Some (like our own Kasper’s Barber Shop) are right in the middle. Engaging conversation and some music playing at a reasonable level, a place to come and chat with friends but also peaceful enough to relax and not feel rushed.
In addition to the atmosphere is the kind of haircuts you could expect to get and what kind of jargon you will likely hear.
If your walk into a barbershop located in the center of Hazleton PA (a local predominantly Hispanic community) and ask for the dreaded “regular haircut” you are going to get a vastly different style than if you were to go a hair salon located in State College PA (a posh predominately Caucasian community) and ask for the same thing.
Be sure when your searching online for “Barber Shops Near Me” that your visiting the websites of your prospective new barber and visually verifying that they do the kind of styles your looking for with their portfolio photos.
This will ensure that you don’t end up with a very well done haircut that wasn’t at all what you wanted (i.e. a bowl cut instead of a gentleman’s cut).
Your Barber’s Level of Experience -
Would you believe that in the hair industry there are barbers that don’t know how to properly use shears/scissors?
Some of them are really talented barbers when it comes to their preferred styles such as skin fades and bald fades, but would you think it would be fair to ask them to preform a complex layered pompadour haircut on long hair?
I don’t think so.
When searching for “Barbers Near Me” again be sure to review the barber shops website to be certain that what style of hair cut you would like matches with the style of hair cuts that come from that particular shop or salon.
Ideally every barber and hair stylist should be well rounded and able to perform just about any type of haircut you may ask for. But the reality is, just like we mentioned before about neighborhoods and cultures of shops, the same styles tend to be repeated by clients at a particular shop and therefore become a sort of “specialty” for the barbers of those areas.
I, for example, have extremely limited experience with women’s hair. I know the basic concepts and could do an acceptable job, however, my wife is very experienced with women’s’ hair and could do a very great job with it.
Furthermore, if that client were to go to a dedicated cosmetology hair salon that specialized in women’s hair she would receive an outstanding result.
Location & Availability -
Last but certainly not least, the location of the barber shop is one of the most important factors. Why else would you be searching for “Barber Shops Near Me” if you wanted barber shops in another city?
Making sure that your potential new barber shop is easy to find, in a desirable location, and not far out of your way is very important. If its too much trouble to get to the shop, pay for parking, or stressing out over if someone may break into your vehicle while your there your making your whole hair cutting experience negative before you even start!
Look for a shop that fits into your daily commute. If you have to go a little out of your way for the right place then that’s perfectly fine as long as you don’t find it to be stressful. We have clients that happily travel 1-2 hours to our shop because they know they will have an enjoyable experience with us.
Availability it probably the most important factor of this list!
If you arrive at a barber shop only to have to wait for an hour to get in a chair than your not in the right place. Look for shops that offer appointments, but more importantly stick to them.
Any barber that makes a client with a scheduled appointment wait so that they could take a walk in customer first is in my opinion very disrespectful. Crap happens and sometimes us barbers run a few mins behind. But if the client booked a specific time for a cut then that is his time, and that should be respected.
Mini rant over.
Make it a point to check the open availability of your desired barbershop by visiting their website or looking them up in hair cut booking apps such as Vagaro, The Cut, Booksy, or the more premium service, Squire. This will give you an understanding of if they take walk in appointments, what days they typically book up quickly on and if they are even taking new clientele.
In Conclusion
TLDR:
Search “Barber Shops Near Me’
Find the shop that suits your style or vibe.
Check their website for photos of their previous work.
Check their website to make sure they are in your price range.
Make sure they are close by and accept appointments (even last minute ones).
Thanks for reading!
