Barber Cuts into Men?s Hair Care Niche

Roger Mace
Owner, Lew’s Barbershop
Rogers

After college I went to school to learn to cut hair, that was 1994. I always wanted to do something artistic but still work with people. I like the interaction.

I moved to Fayetteville in 1996 and started working for the men’s grooming line Men’s Crew.

During that time I began to see a rapid increase in demand for places for men to get their hair cut. But there are very few barbershops and most men don’t feel comfortable going to a salon; there just weren’t a lot of places meeting men’s needs.

Men today are much more fashion conscious. More guys are seeing the value of a good haircut. They know it’s like getting a good suit and they are willing to pay more for that.

I started this shop because I believe this area is now ready for something more upscale that caters to men’s needs. There are more and more men moving here from larger metro areas where they have shops like this.

Lew is my middle name. I chose the name for my shop because I thought it had an old school feel to it.

I have tried to take the nostalgic, male-specific environment that guys like about a barbershop and combine it with the trained stylists like you would find in a salon.

I charge $25 a haircut. We also offer a free shave and clean up.  Once we get up to full speed I hope to do 75 haircuts a day.  We have soda, water, beer and wine on hand.

A barbershop has a very different dynamic from a salon. It’s very consistent. There isn’t a lot of emotion or drama attached to cutting men’s hair.

I still work on the Men’s Crew’s education team. I have traveled across the country with the company.

Coming to a place like Lew’s sort of heightens a man’s view of what he is having done. It helps them see that a good haircut is part of good fashion.