The return of the barbershop
Manager Joe Lombardo shapes Mark Cook’s hair at The 201 Man Cave.
In addition to haircuts, The 201 Man Cave offers beard and mustache services including classic and modern designs, beard and mustache trimming, beard lineup services and a variety of beard care products.
Tom Stefan says that he believes haircuts and styling are a form of art and takes pride in a job well done.
Barber Laura D’Emidio gives Jared Adametz a hair cut as he enjoys a glass of beer at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy.
Barber Laura D’Emidio uses the straight razor on Michael D’Emidio at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy.
Barber Laura D’Emidio with client Jared Adametz at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy.
Tom Stefan, 88, still works four days a week at his barber shop in Donora.
Barber Laura D’Emidio uses the straight razor on Michael D’Emidio at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy.
Barber Laura D’Emidio gives Jared Adametz a hair cut as he enjoys a glass of beer at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy.
There was a time when a walk down the main street in any town meant strolling past a barber’s pole – that red, white and blue spinning light that signaled the barbershop was open for business. Chances are there wasn’t an empty seat in the waiting area, and the men of the town would gather to converse and solve the world’s problems while waiting for a shave and a haircut. In fact, you could call barbershops the first “man caves,” where the scents of tobacco, pomade and hair tonic permeated the air and hot lather relaxed many a man before a shave.
Barber Tom Stefan remembers the glory days of barbershops. At age 88, he still works four days a week to get out of the house and have some friendly conversation. “I started back in 1954 in Monessen. Back then, Monessen had 25 barbershops,” he says.
Stefan has been cutting men’s hair and giving straight razor shaves ever since and owns Stefan’s Barber Shop in Donora. “I deal with an older generation,” he says of his regular customers. “I don’t have the young kids or a young clientele. They’ve been raised in a beauty shop, and that’s all they know.”
There is a difference between a hair stylist and a barber, and it comes in the schooling with using the straight razor and clippers. Stefan’s clientele is used to that tapered, more technical cut. “They were raised with barbers tapering the hair with a straight razor so they don’t have to shave around the neck,” he explains. “The hard part is the taper from the bottom up into the hair. Stylists don’t know how to do that.”
Barbershops hit their height in popularity in the mid to late 1800s but started to decline in the early 1900s, when Gillette began selling safety razors. That, combined with the Great Depression, turned a trip to the barbershop into a special occasion or luxury. Still, men enjoyed that special sanctuary where they could socialize and relax. While younger generations turned to unisex salons for haircuts and styling, Stefan kept his steady customer base. “It’s a form of art,” he says about why he’s stayed in business so long. “You take a head of hair and you start cutting into it and see how nice you can make it look. When you’re done, it’s just like an artist. You take pride in what you’ve done.”
While barbershops and barbers have become increasingly scarce over the years, the Mon Valley seems to have a healthy assortment of the establishments. Several seasoned barbers operate a solo chair shop or serve customers in their homes. Last fall saw the opening of two new barbershops catering to a distinctly male clientele. Renee and Jim Sasko, who own La Beaute Hair Salon and Day Spa on Rostraver Road in Belle Vernon, decided to expand their services and facilities and created The 201 Man Cave. “We wanted to open it up to men who like the grooming part,” says Renee Sasko. “I feel like a lot of guys like to have a guy’s place to go to and don’t want to go to a day spa and wait on cuts and color. They want to be in and out.”
Manager Joe Lombardo adds, “It’s a friendly atmosphere. It’s very welcoming.” The décor definitely lives up to the shop’s name, with Pittsburgh sports memorabilia covering the walls and utility drawers fashioned after tool chests. A trip to the 201 Man Cave can get you a shampoo, cut, hot towel facial and five-minute scalp massage all served with a complimentary glass of beer (for those of age). Lombardo says their clientele is all ages from children to seniors and adds, “We have two big-screen TVs with movies and sports showing.” So far, business has been brisk with more than 600 clients in the first three and a half months – a sign Renee says points to the fact that men are more into grooming these days and shorter, technical hairstyles. “When it comes to a barbershop, guys tend to take care of their looks more now,” she says. “There are so many more beard styles and hairstyles and they’re just much more particular.”
North Belle Vernon also boasts the only female barber in the Mon Valley in Laura D’Emidio, 32, who cuts and shaves customers at Dapper by Salon Eye Candy on Broad Avenue. Dapper also opened last fall specializing in men’s haircuts, mustache and beard trims and other services like waxing, brow shaping and scalp treatments. Hot lather and towels, straight razor shaves, scalp massages and a complimentary glass of beer are also part of the pampering for customers here. D’Emidio has been cutting hair since she was 19, but switched focus to men’s haircuts and shaves four years ago with barber schooling.
The training to be a barber differs from that of a stylist at cosmetology school in that barbers must learn the use of straight razors and clippers. D’Emidio says being a barber was her best career move. “Men are awesome,” she says. “They’re easier, so much more laid back, and I have a lot more artistic creativity doing men’s cuts versus women’s because I’m not just limited to doing color. I can challenge myself. Men have more involved haircuts than women.”
D’Emidio’s client base is varied. “I get a decent mix of everything,” she says. “I get older men, younger men, dads who bring their little boys in. It’s pretty awesome that it’s not just one thing here. They all fit right in and sit down and start talking in the waiting room.”