Fourteen years on Smith Street
Ray Cutler and Sam Crane opened this shop in 2012 with two chairs, one borrowed cash register, and a hand-painted sign. The sign is still over the door. The two chairs became six, and the roster grew to eight barbers, two of them master barbers with more than twenty years behind the chair.
The idea has not changed since opening day: post the prices, keep the wait honest, and cut what the customer asked for. Guard numbers and razor preferences go on a card behind the counter, so your third visit picks up where your first left off. Around 40,000 cuts later, most new faces in the chair were sent by an old one.
Regulars, mostly
Four different barbers have cut my hair here over ten years, and every one checked my card and the photo before picking up clippers.
My son has had his birthday cut here every year since he was five. There's a card behind the counter with all nine dates on it.
I book the 9am Saturday shave and it has opened my weekend for three straight years. Same chair, same towels, same price.