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Using their heads
Barbers Succeed by Harmonizing with Black Culture
For the longest time, the barbershop has been the place where black men could go to get a professional haircut and a shave, kick back and unwind, and find the camaraderie they may not have on the job. A bedrock institution in the black community, the barbershop traditionally was the place where black men could discuss the world around them uncensored, expressing their views on everything from sports and politics to religion and women.
The atmosphere wasn't anything fancy: a small storefront with few frills beyond the symbolic barber's pole and a few posters of famous black athletes and entertainers in a one-room grooming parlor. In the movie "Barbershop," it was depicted as the "black man's country club."
While the black barbershop is still all of that, it has evolved to a culturally creative environment where haircutting has become an experience.
Today's black-owned barbershops are upscale. These young, urban entrepreneurs, influenced by hip-hop and sports culture, are adding flash and "bling" to their shops to appeal to an urban market and differentiate themselves from traditional barbershops. Craig Marberry got a firsthand view of the evolution of black-owned barbershops as he traveled to major cities throughout the nation while researching his new book, "Cuttin' Up: Wit and Wisdom from Black Barbershops." The book, published by Doubleday, was released last May.
"The younger guys have the pride to elevate the tradition by making it more than a threadbare atmosphere," says Marberry. "They're dressing up the atmosphere with creative ideas. They're doing it in a way that's a reflection of the black experience."
Phenomenon not new
This is not a new phenomenon for black-owned barbershops, says Clayborn Benson, executive director of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society & Museum, 2620 W. Center St., which has an exhibit on black barbershops. "It's always been very competitive. At the turn of the century, things like putting in bathhouses became common. The Moss Barbershop in La Crosse had a wrestling ring outside the shop," says Benson, whose late uncle operated Moore's Barbershop in the central city for more than 40 years.
"It's a hard business trying to create customers and stay on your feet, and so you had to be creative."
Replica NBA floor
Nowhere is this more apparent than at Gee's Clippers and Hair Design, 4323 W. Fond du Lac. Ave. The shop is owned by Gaulien Smith, who goes by the nickname "Gee," and incorporates a Milwaukee Bucks theme. At 35, the former postal worker - who started cutting hair in his north side home at 12 - operates one of the premier black-owned barbershops in the city.
Since opening in 1995, Smith has spent more than $150,000 on renovations that include authentic Milwaukee Bucks paraphernalia, such as the original courtside seats from the '60s and autographed basketball shoes and jerseys of past and present Bucks players like Ray Allen and Michael Redd. The shop is decorated with vintage purple Bucks-style lockers behind each of the nine barbers' stations, hanging basketball hoops and a 67-inch big-screen TV. Smith even had a replica of the wooden NBA floor at the Bradley Center installed in his shop by the same company that installed the Bucks' floor.
That doesn't mean a haircut costs as much as a Bucks ticket. Smith keeps prices affordable - just $14 for a haircut - by renting space at Gee's and an adjacent women's hair salon to 16 barbers and stylists. "I wanted to provide an atmosphere that's clean, tasteful and professional," says Smith, who has been a Milwaukee Bucks fan since he was 9. "I felt it was important to bring this quality to the central city. I wanted it to be as authentic as possible."
It's paid off in a major way. In addition to a steady and growing clientele, Smith cuts the hair of players for the Bucks, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Green Bay Packers and sports celebrities from other teams who come to town. In a month, Smith will be opening his second location on N. King Drive, a 3,600-square-foot facility complete with 20 barbers, two nail technicians, a massage therapist and a women's salon. He received a $150,000 loan from North Milwaukee State Bank to help finance the expansion.
This creates a unique opportunity for Smith to bring what he has to offer to a more mainstream market.
Across town at Eternal Clips & Design, 5565 N. Teutonia Ave., Torone "Priest" Brown, a relative newcomer on the scene, has equipped his barbershop with wide-open spaces, wooden floors, a snack bar with food and beverages for clients and custom-made, black leather seats that he considers the Cadillac of barber chairs.
Brown, 27, takes pride in the large mural of black entertainment figures like Sammy Davis Jr., Billie Holiday and Ray Charles that stretches across a rear wall of his shop, symbolizing his love of music and a desire to preserve black culture.
"I want to change the game. I wanted my shop to be modern and contemporary," says Brown, a former rapper and now a financial services representative. "I love music. That's why I put the music theme in. I'm trying to give the barbershop a new image."
Packaging black culture
Young entrepreneurs like Smith and Brown are gaining a competitive advantage by taking what is uniquely black culture and packaging it in a way that differentiates their businesses from traditional barbershops, says Len Greenhalgh, professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He also is the college's director of executive programs for minority and women-owned businesses.
"It's not doing the same thing that the white guy is doing and competing head-to-head, but doing something that's valued by the African-American population," said Greenhalgh. "That essentially is a brilliant idea."
The barbershop has long been a path to prosperity and wealth creation for African-American men and became one of the earliest businesses for black men who lost jobs when the factories and mills shut down, says Benson of the Wisconsin Black Historical Society & Museum.
"When they came here at the turn of the century, black men had very few options. The barbershop became their mainstay. It really economically put us (black men) on front street. It enabled us to sustain our families."
Emerging black barbers not only are giving a new twist to an old-fashioned business, but they also are offering something African-American men can't get just anyplace - a connection to their culture, whether it's black entertainment, black comedy or professional sports. Not coincidentally, those often are venues where black men are admired and revered.
Tannette Johnson-Elie writes about small and minority-owned businesses and diversity issues for the Journal Sentinel. She can be reached at (414) 223-5172 or by e-mail at telie@journalsentinel.com.
Article URL: http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=527971
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