1 minute read
Barbageddon!
JIMBO - EX - BARBER
All throughout the ages, Barbers and Barbershops have been a mainstay in our society. You can count on one hand – actually, more like one finger come to think of it – times in history where people have turned away in droves from the humble barber experience. That one time that we can count on that one finger, Beatle-bloody-mania. When those 4 young lads from Birmingham first hit the scene in the early 60's, they were all sporting their fashionable 'mod mop cut' as they called it. But by the time it hit 1969, the Beatles had evolved from their clean-cut bowls to shagadelic long locks baby. The effect? During a chat with a barber in a rural country NSW town, he told me it was catastrophic. Barbers staying old school and set in their ways soon found they were phased out, with towns such as the one mentioned, losing 5 of their 6 barbershops during that point in history.
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It was officially Barbageddon. So, could history be ready to repeat itself? It seems unlikely that a band will ever take the world by storm and influence the culture as much as The Beatles did. But fashion is ever changing. Let's face it. The barber culture has been feeding in a good paddock for a while now. With the popularity of fades, high medium or low, I could safely say that a good amount of our clients would come in every 1 to 2 weeks now to keep their fades fresh. So, what to do when fashion changes and it isn't all about the fade? When clients come in for a trim every 4 to 6 weeks instead? Or when the fashion turns to longer hair again?
It's unlikely we'll be reluctant to change as barbers were at the time of The Beatles. These days we are much more open to moving with the times and adaptation.
But what will that look like? What are the solutions? We've posed these ponderings to some barber shop owners around the place, and here's what they had to say.
David Morton owner of Barber Brands who supplies 1000 of Barbers shops in Australia and New Zealand also has some concerns of where the industry is heading and is looking
