The legacy of barbershops in Greater Victoria traces back more than 80 years. Competition in town remains hot, so it B次元官网网址榮 worth taking a look at how the barbering industry has shifted and diversified decade by decade, shop by shop.
JimmyB次元官网网址檚 Barber Shop
Jimmy Pavlidis, who trained as a barber in Giannitsa, Greece, from age 13, fell in love with Victoria upon a vacation with his wife and moved here in the late B次元官网网址�60s. Today, with 58 years running JimmyB次元官网网址檚 Barber Shop and 68 years of total work experience, 84-year-old Pavlidis is Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 longest-serving barber.
Often called B次元官网网址淛immy the Greek barber,B次元官网网址� he first worked here for two years at Gus PapaloukasB次元官网网址檚 Central Barber business on the corner of Douglas and Broughton streets. PavlidisB次元官网网址檚 daughter, who often translates for him and spoke on his behalf, said a plumbing business and subsequent ice cream shop pre-existed in the building JimmyB次元官网网址檚 now occupies.
According to her, Pavlidis had told his wife, B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檇 love to have this shop. Why ice cream? I love to make barbershop!B次元官网网址� while searching Victoria for a potential business space. Two weeks later, the ice cream shop announced it was leaving.
The daughter noted her fatherB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址減rime locationB次元官网网址� at 728 Fort St. has served his business well through the decades.
People have come from as far as Australia to experience a haircut at JimmyB次元官网网址檚, which accommodates a total four barbers, and numerous Americans frequent the shop whenever they visit Victoria.
B次元官网网址淚f theyB次元官网网址檙e tourists who come quite often, theyB次元官网网址檒l go to him for a haircut.B次元官网网址�
Others come to JimmyB次元官网网址檚 to get traditional straight-razor cuts and prepare for weddings. Pavlidis continues to preserve a B次元官网网址�50s style with his shop and barbering and, in some ways, the business has hardly changed since it began in 1969.
B次元官网网址淗eB次元官网网址檚 had customers whoB次元官网网址檝e pretty much grown up with him.B次元官网网址�
Most notably, JimmyB次元官网网址檚 still offers its signature inexpensive haircuts at $13. Even when Pavlidis isnB次元官网网址檛 working, his daughter said, he likes to sit in the shop while watching good friends and long-time customers pass by the window.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a very social job, which a lot of people enjoy.B次元官网网址�
She said having multiple barbershops operating on the same street can cause issues but Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 population density makes up for it. She added that some people prefer to visit just one barber, while others like to try different ones.
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a fashion style, so thereB次元官网网址檚 more demand for it,B次元官网网址� the daughter said, explaining that barbering has evolved over generations from standardized haircuts to more detailed and diverse styles.
Pavlidis has also done volunteer barbering at hospitals and care homes and enjoys helping people when he can.
B次元官网网址淗e says, B次元官网网址業 love this barbershop. It is my life,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said, adding that Pavlidis jokes about the business being more important than his wife.
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Oak Bay Barber Shoppe
Happy Coxford began his business on Oak Bay Avenue in 1991 when he took over a shop from B次元官网网址淟ucky Jim,B次元官网网址� who built the property and ran his business there starting in 1947. This made the shop the longest continuously-running barber establishment in Greater Victoria.
Coxford, originally from Montreal, moved his business in 2009 to Estevan Village, where he took over a space thatB次元官网网址檚 served as a barbershop since 1960 and was first run by Eric Lovett.
The earlier rise of barbershops in town was triggered by nothing more than supply and demand, Coxford said.
B次元官网网址淭hey were just barbers that offered cuts and shaves to men.B次元官网网址�
Immigration in the last 15 years has also changed the industry, he added, and increased the number of local barbershops threefold. B次元官网网址淵ou want to hang a plaque and call yourself a barber, you can do it.B次元官网网址�
Coxford, a barber for 40 years, described his business model as B次元官网网址渘o-nonsenseB次元官网网址� and old-school. Bills from dozens of currencies around the world cover most of his mirror space. Baseball caps from various sports teams, emergency forces and community organizations deck the shelves high along the walls. And customers in line seat themselves on a wooden pew next to NFL memorabilia and framed photos of Coxford in Jordan and Marilyn Monroe in white.
B次元官网网址淎nother brilliant rendering,B次元官网网址� one satisfied customer exclaimed after his haircut.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 not sure if I come here for the barber or the embarrassment,B次元官网网址� another joked, with a third adding itB次元官网网址檚 always an interesting experience and a good place for conversation.
As Coxford put it, B次元官网网址淚t really is the last manB次元官网网址檚 bastion.B次元官网网址�
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Uomo Modern Barber
Steven Bailey and wife Simona Stramaccioni started their shop in 2002, taking over a business from Pasquale Giordano at Haultain Street and Belmont Avenue.
Giordano, who began training at age 10 in Calabria, Italy, had run the shop for 15 years after operating seven salons in Edmonton. The building itself had seen barbers operating there intermittently since 1943.
Stramaccioni, by contrast, ran an expensive store in Rome during the B次元官网网址�80s while working in celebrity fashion. She and Bailey moved Uomo to Cook Street Village in 2016 and favour traditional scissor haircutting and Italian-style barbering.
Bailey likes to think of the term B次元官网网址渂arberB次元官网网址� more literally B次元官网网址� in Italian, B次元官网网址渂arbaB次元官网网址� refers to the beard. And Uomo was among the first barbershops in town to offer shaves following the AIDS crisis.
The big controversy is about what a barber is, which Bailey said keeps everyone on their toes.
B次元官网网址淭hatB次元官网网址檚 a healthy debate in the industry.B次元官网网址�
The real B次元官网网址渄eeper, darker hipster sceneB次元官网网址� for barbering, he said, started in New York during the late B次元官网网址�90s and early 2000s. Back then, Generation Xers like Bailey didnB次元官网网址檛 want to settle for a traditional hairdresser or standard barbershop.
B次元官网网址淭here was a void there,B次元官网网址� he said, noting modern barbering evolved organically.
The main challenge now is becoming more tech savvy to reach more people: Uomo focuses on baby boomers and generation Xers. B次元官网网址淚 think youB次元官网网址檝e got to pick your battle and just stick with it. WeB次元官网网址檙e reaching a point now where the (barbers) who are good will do great and the ones who arenB次元官网网址檛 will struggle to stay alive.B次元官网网址�
The industry is turning back to hairdressing, and younger men are wanting more brow bars and perms, he said.
B次元官网网址淢en have definitely become more particular about how they look over the last decade, for sure.B次元官网网址�
Though Uomo continues to prioritize traditional Italian and European barbering styles, Bailey enjoys the healthy competition between Greater VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 barbers.
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Brothers Barbershop
The legacy of this shop began in 1999, when brothers Visar and Artor Gashi arrived in Victoria after volunteering in the war in Kosovo and fleeing their home for safety abroad.
The brothers worked at JimmyB次元官网网址檚 for a while before starting their own shop just up the block on Fort Street in 2015. A few years ago they opened a second shop on Goldstream Avenue in Langford, where VisarB次元官网网址檚 daughter, Zana, works with Artor.
B次元官网网址淲e kind of try to be a family business,B次元官网网址� Visar said. Having served three or four generations in some families, they aim to run a barbershop thatB次元官网网址檚 universal in the way Canada is, he added.
B次元官网网址淵ou can be brother and sister with all the world.B次元官网网址�
Through the down times of the pandemic and subsequent recovery, Visar said his busy downtown shop can fool customers into thinking business is booming, when in reality itB次元官网网址檚 often struggling. The number of staff at Brothers has fluctuated during the pandemic.
B次元官网网址淏ut our clients, they never let us down. I wish I could thank all of them, one by one.B次元官网网址�
Visar, 45, said he could easily find a cheaper downtown space for the business, but doesnB次元官网网址檛 because he feels heB次元官网网址檚 grown up as a barber in the 700-block of Fort Street. A restaurant fire in 2013 closed several businesses for a while and when Oscar and LibbyB次元官网网址檚 moved across the street, Visar and his brother, ready to move on from JimmyB次元官网网址檚, seized the opportunity.
B次元官网网址淚 know how to make money in this business. I know this business better than any barber in Victoria.B次元官网网址�
Visar said he resists raising prices for fear of losing his dearest clients, some of whom care for three or four kids. As he put it, heB次元官网网址檚 chosen to work more enjoyably for less money than the opposite.
B次元官网网址淵ou have to respect (the client) first to win that respect,B次元官网网址� he said, calling his clients B次元官网网址渉olyB次元官网网址� people. B次元官网网址淚f heB次元官网网址檚 homeless or heB次元官网网址檚 a big businessman, builder, whatever, everybody comes here (and) we treat them the same.B次元官网网址�
For now heB次元官网网址檚 happy with Brothers as is, but noted barbering once had a simpler and more classic look and feel.
B次元官网网址淣ow they do it more like an all-in-one B次元官网网址� hairdressing, barbering, styling, things like that,B次元官网网址� he said, adding the once standardized price for a haircut has risen as much as 150 per cent in some places.
While skin fades are popular among younger men, Visar said his shop can deliver any kind of hair style to any kind of customer. Brothers also gives charity haircuts annually for the Canadian Cancer SocietyB次元官网网址檚 Cops for Cancer fundraiser and will do so this year at its Langford shop on Sept. 11.
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Status Barber Shop
Troy Wilson opened his shop in September 2009 and in that time has seen the barber population going from one per neighbourhood to all around Greater Victoria.
Describing barbering as an ever-evolving profession thatB次元官网网址檚 now B次元官网网址渙ne of the hottest young trending trades out there,B次元官网网址� he said, B次元官网网址渢he industry has blown up. ItB次元官网网址檚 on fire.B次元官网网址�
Originally from Halifax, Wilson cut hair in his high school locker room and trained under an older barber from Italy while attending Western Connecticut State University. He went on to balance barbering with teaching at Esquimalt High School for 22 years.
Now he runs VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址渕ost culturally diverse barbershop.B次元官网网址� Status draws a more mature clientele and largely follows European trends, but Wilson said thereB次元官网网址檚 not a texture of African, Asian or Caribbean hairstyle his staff doesnB次元官网网址檛 know.
B次元官网网址淨uality over quantity has always been our motto,B次元官网网址� he added. B次元官网网址淎 good haircut will get you in the door, but a great haircut will keep you coming back.B次元官网网址�
Women professionals, who often come equipped with a background in styling, blow-drying and rolling, are starting to take over the barbering trade, he noted.
Status prides itself on community involvement and cuts hair for charity at Victoria HarbourCats and Westshore Rebels games. WilsonB次元官网网址檚 10-chair shop houses a versatile staff and, sporting an LGBTQ flag in the window, provides a friendly and accommodating space for all.
Like he said, B次元官网网址測ou donB次元官网网址檛 pay for the hair, you pay for the style.B次元官网网址�
So, the next time you visit your local barber for a trim, consider inquiring about their history, style and evolution over time. They might just be one of the trendiest or longest-serving barbershops Greater Victoria has to offer.
Do you have a story tip? Email: evert.lindquist@blackpress.ca.
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