Barbershop industry growing quickly in Nevada, US
The barber industry is in the midst of a renaissance.
Long gone are the days of barbers getting customers in and out of the chair as quickly as possible. According to professionals who attended the LV Barber Expo Sunday, the barbershops of today are bringing the industry back to its former glory.
“We’re taking it really serious,” said Thursday “The Girl Can Cut” Farrell, a barber based in Delaware. “We’re actually bringing it back up to the prestige that it deserves.”
Jackie “J. Starr” Starr, boxer Floyd Mayweather’s personal barber and owner of Iced Out Barber Shop in Las Vegas, hosted the first one-day Las Vegas barber expo.
“I feel like the industry needed this, especially on the West Coast,” Starr said. It helps “make sure people in the industry are sharp. … This is a great way to reinvent yourself.”
Hosted at the South Point by Starr in collaboration with Jay “Majors” Raposo, founder of the two-day Connecticut Barber Expo, the LV Barber Expo offered competitions, equipment vendors and educational classes on everything from fading techniques to time management. Starr said all these tools can help keep barbers at the top of their game as the industry grows.
Market evolution
“It’s a totally different market than when I started,” she said.
Barbers are seeing a revival in the valley, said Antinette Maestas, secretary and treasurer at the Nevada Barbers’ Health and Sanitation Board.
She said there are 1,351 licensed barbers in the state today. Five years ago, that number was closer to 900.
“It’s very trendy,” she said. “Barbering has come back throughout the whole country.”
And it’s dealing with expanding demographics, said Ryan Graham, owner of Graham’s Barber Shop in Pittsburgh.
“Almost 40 percent of my clientele are women,” he said. “A lot of women are tired of that salon vibe … it’s a non-gender-specific environment that isn’t incredibly overpriced just because they’re female. People just like to look good.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of barbershops in the country grew about 15.6 percent between 2012 and 2015, adding 592 establishments. Between May 2016 and May 2017, there was an 18.3 percent jump in barber employment in the U.S., according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The first barber school in Nevada opened about 10 years ago. The second, Masterpiece Barber School, opened in the fall of 2015.
Marcus Allen, owner and instructor of Masterpiece Barber School, said barbers are in demand. “Men are starting to groom themselves more now.”
The barber boom has been heavily influenced by social media, Allen said, with more men interested in their appearance. He said some of the more popular cuts today are comb-over fades, flat tops and mohawks.
High demand
Flexibility and wages are two major draws to the craft, Allen said. A barber in the U.S. has an annual mean wage of $30,480, slightly above that of a Nevada gaming service worker’s $29,930, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“A lot of people don’t want to work in casinos anymore. They want to work for themselves,” Allen said. “You get to set your own schedule … 90 percent of (my students used to work) somewhere in the casinos.”
It takes about nine months to complete the Masterpiece Barber School program, which costs about $11,050. Allen said the school only takes about 30 students at a time to avoid “flooding the industry,” but demand exceeds class size. The current waitlist is anywhere from two to three months long.
Interest isn’t expected to wane anytime soon. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expected a 13 percent growth rate for U.S. barber employment between 2016 and 2026, above the average occupation growth rate of 7 percent.
“There’s a lot of money in the business,” said Miguel Rosas, who owns a barber school and barbershop in Illinois. “Ten, 15 years ago, people were only charging $10, $12 for a haircut. Nowadays they’re charging $25, $30, up to $50 a haircut. So there’s a lot of money to be made.”
Graham said barbers have become more comfortable charging their worth over the years.
“Before, barbershops would try to cut cheaper and do more volume. Now barbers are taking the time to perfect the cut and have a flawless haircut,” he said. “You’re selling them the experience and your time, not so much just a haircut.”
Maestas said the social aspect of a barbershop is also drawing in more customers.
“The barbershop was the original chat room before the internet was ever invented, and it’s reverted back to that,” she said. “It’s a place for (customers) to be comfortable.”
Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.
The new old
The barber industry has come a long way in the last few years, said Miguel Rosas, who owns a barber school and barber shop in Illinois. He said barbers are putting in morework to give customers a relaxing experience.
"The men are dressing more professional, and kind of merging the salon feel into the barber shop," he said. "A barber is now doing facials, hot towel shaves … just bringingback more services rather than it just being a haircut."
Ryan Graham, owner of Graham's Barber Shop in Pittsburgh, said he travels to expos to learn how to add extra touches that make his barbershop stand out.
"Little things like how to give the proper handshake, how to have your shop smell a certain way," he said. "Before, when it was more like barbershops versus salons …barbershops would try to make their cuts cheaper and do more volume. Now, I think barbers are taking the time to perfect the cut, to have a flawless haircut, and customersreally appreciate that extra time. Not everyone wants to be in and out of the chair. … People don't mind taking the extra time to escape reality."
