Sammy?s Barber Shop, Inc. may not be easy to find, but that hasn?t hurt business any. In fact, it?s so busy owner Sammy Hewins is preparing to double his hair cutting capacity, and a new barber will be joining the team in about two months.
Calling hair cutting a recession-proof industry, Hewins said his business is even steady in the off-season. So with his shop consistently near capacity, the only way to meet the demand is to bring on a second barber.
?I can only do so many haircuts a day, and that?s the limit,? he said, noting that he doesn?t want to raise the price of his $19 cuts.
Hewins needs help, but there aren?t a lot of unemployed, licensed barbers in Aspen looking for a job. Enter Jesse Juneac, who locals may know from his previous employment at Cooper Street Pier and Junk. Juneac is currently in barber?s school and will be joining Hewins when he?s done, allowing Sammy?s the opportunity to double the number of clients it can serve.
Jumping from the restaurant/bar industry to the barber?s chair is nothing new. Hewins, 41, began working in the restaurant business when he moved to Aspen 18 years ago. He served and bartended in a variety of local spots including the J-Bar, but after eight years he tired of the late nights, intoxicated people and financial instability of Aspen?s seasonal restaurant industry.
?That?s why I had to open my own business,? he said. ?I couldn?t survive here with that type of [seasonal] work. I needed a niche, and I think I found it.?
The vintage 1978 Alva skateboard hanging in the corner of the shop pays homage to the Philadelphia skate scene of the 1970s and ?80s, where Hewins said his unlikely journey to becoming a barber began.
?We grew up destroying each other?s heads,? Hewins said. ?As kids we were shaving each other?s heads into mohawks, and I kind of started to learn it there. Then when I moved out here with five guys from Philly, they bought me scissors and a clipper because they didn?t want to pay for haircuts. So I cut their hair for years while working at the J-Bar.?
He enjoyed his unofficial barber role and decided to make it his full-time career. He enrolled at the West Glenwood Beauty and Barber Academy and took 18 months to complete the 10-month program because he still had to work full time.
?I wanted to get out of the restaurant business, and I wanted to stay [in Aspen], so I figured I needed my own business,? he said. ?I knew how to cut hair, so I went to get the license.?
The day he received his license he began his official career as a barber at a now-defunct shop on the corner of Cooper Avenue and Original Street, in the building with Johnny McGuire?s and Domino?s Pizza. He spent 18 months there growing his clientele, which he admits wasn?t difficult as his former bartending gigs had introduced him to most of the locals in town.
?Chris Council/Aspen Daily News
Sammy Hewins stands in his barbershop, located in the alley behind Johnny McGuire?s Deli in downtown Aspen. The shop is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
In 2004, he moved to the current location, accessed through the alley of the same building, and Sammy?s Barber Shop Inc. was born. Since 98 percent of his clients are locals, he said the partially hidden location is not a problem.
?It?s all I can afford,? he said of the small space that?s wallpapered with the paraphernalia of every professional sports team in Philadelphia. ?This would be three times the amount [of rent] if it was a storefront. My landlords are incredible, and that?s hard to find in this town.?
Hewins also bought a condo through the employee housing program at about the same time, which the golf and poker aficionado credits as part of the reason he stays in Aspen.
?The employee housing system here is incredible,? he said. ?It?s probably the only thing that?s keeping me here because my mortgage is only two-thirds of what my rent used to be. The community is also what keeps me here. It?s just nice to know a lot of people, and feel like you?re a part of it. You?re not anonymous. Here you can make eye contact and not feel like you?re going to get threatened.?
Hewins loves Aspen, being his own boss, working his own hours, and taking mornings off in the winter if it?s a good powder day. The community?s feelings toward him seem to be mutual, as wait times in the no-appointments, first-come-first-served establishment can sometimes exceed an hour. But his loyal customers of all ages don?t seem to mind.
John Burke, 62, has been getting his hair cut at Sammy?s for six years and said he only comes once every five months to be sure he gets his money?s worth.
?Sammy?s great [because] you don?t have to tell him what you want,? Burke said. ?Sammy?s got Playboy magazines over there, so I put up with all the Philly [sports] crap he?s got everywhere.?
Greg Fitzsimmons, 29, has been going to Sammy?s for over five years and likes the social aspect of the shop.
?There?s a good vibe in here,? he said. ?We watch sports and hang out, it?s an actual barber shop, and it doesn?t really feel like that anywhere else.?
It can get a little crazy when the shop is crowded. One regular who stops in to hang out, when asked by newly-arrived customers if he?s next, responds with, ?I wouldn?t get my hair cut here!?
Hewins has also been known to pull his own share of pranks on friends.
?I?ll try to send them out with a rat tail ? that?s one of my favorite moves,? he said. ?Once Trevor Clapper got to Basalt in his car [before he realized], then called up and had some choice words for me.?
After spending a decade carving out his own little piece of paradise in Aspen, Hewins doesn?t regret leaving the restaurant industry and taking the risk to become a small business owner.
?This way I feel more a part of the community, because I get to interact with anyone from 2 years old to 92,? he said. ?It?s kind of cool that way.?
doug.allen75@yahoo.com
Source: http://www.aspendailynews.com/section/home/154592
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