Lakeside Barber Shop


Female barbers run 'spa for men' in Acworth By BILL SANDERS The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 11/18/07 Some guys just don't go for the whole pedicure thing. Never have, never will. Now, replace the toenail file with an old-fashioned straight razor, throw in a few steaming towels and a mini neck massage, and man-pampering seems downright manly. Lakeside Barber Shop customer Mike Watkins of Acworth gets the royal treatment from barber/owner Mary Evans. With an all-you-can-eat pizza joint on one side and an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet on the other, the Lakeside Barber Shop in Acworth had a built-in hardy-man audience. And if that's not enough, there's a big electronics store and a major home improvement store about two good football throws away. "Men are easy," said Mary Evans, owner of the barbershop, which opened in September. "Give them good service, treat them with a little TLC and they'll be customers for life." It's a lot like the barbershops that men in their 40s and 50s grew up going to, except there are no men cutting hair. What could be a 10-minute haircut and shave takes at least 30 minutes as the barber — yes, Evans and the all-female staff call themselves barbers, "not stylists, not barbies or barberettes" — slowly massages pre-shaving lotions, shaving cream, then aftershave lotions into the man's face. "Done already?" asked Mike Watkins, who got the 30-minute, almost nap-inducing haircut and shave. "That was good." Evans admits that her barbershop doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before, and she knows it's probably being done elsewhere. And it's not particularly cheap — $15 for a haircut and neck shave, which is consistent with chain salons — and $35 for a haircut and shave. But, Evans said, not many offer the same experience. "Our customers like the little extras, the good conversation and all the TLC," she said. And just how do wives like their men getting this TLC from the shop's three ladies? "They like it that we're pampering the guys so they don't have to," Evans said. "Plus, we don't dress sexy or try to come off that way. It's like a spa for the men." Bob Stahl, known as Umpire Bob around Acworth because, well, he umps a lot, said the chain salons couldn't touch a place like this. "It's hard to find a decent barbershop anymore," he said. "I grew up in Missouri and that's what I remember, getting the straight-razor shave. And particularly in all this dry weather, it feels so good to get the hot moist towels on the face. It keeps my skin from flaking as much." Evans counts on people like Stahl and Watkins becoming regulars. While the shop sits among male-friendly stores and restaurants, you can't see it from the main road, U.S. 41. Thus, her business is going to thrive or fail by word of mouth and repeat customers. "It's been harder than I thought it'd be," Evans said about opening the shop. "The two shops I've worked at before were established and I guess I was a little naïve thinking that business would be here from Day One. "I'm watching people walk by us on the sidewalk every day and it was killing me. People have their habits. If we can get them in here twice, it'll become their habit." Watkins is sold. "This was my first time," he said. "I'll be back."

Female barbers run 'spa for men' in Acworth

By BILL SANDERS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 11/18/07

Some guys just don't go for the whole pedicure thing. Never have, never will.

Now, replace the toenail file with an old-fashioned straight razor, throw in a few steaming towels and a mini neck massage, and man-pampering seems downright manly.

Andy Sharp/AJC Lakeside Barber Shop customer Mike Watkins of Acworth gets the royal treatment from barber/owner Mary Evans.

With an all-you-can-eat pizza joint on one side and an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet on the other, the Lakeside Barber Shop in Acworth had a built-in hardy-man audience.

And if that's not enough, there's a big electronics store and a major home improvement store about two good football throws away.

"Men are easy," said Mary Evans, owner of the barbershop, which opened in September. "Give them good service, treat them with a little TLC and they'll be customers for life."

It's a lot like the barbershops that men in their 40s and 50s grew up going to, except there are no men cutting hair.

What could be a 10-minute haircut and shave takes at least 30 minutes as the barber — yes, Evans and the all-female staff call themselves barbers, "not stylists, not barbies or barberettes" — slowly massages pre-shaving lotions, shaving cream, then aftershave lotions into the man's face.

"Done already?" asked Mike Watkins, who got the 30-minute, almost nap-inducing haircut and shave. "That was good."

Evans admits that her barbershop doesn't do anything that hasn't been done before, and she knows it's probably being done elsewhere.

And it's not particularly cheap — $15 for a haircut and neck shave, which is consistent with chain salons — and $35 for a haircut and shave.

But, Evans said, not many offer the same experience. "Our customers like the little extras, the good conversation and all the TLC," she said.

And just how do wives like their men getting this TLC from the shop's three ladies?

"They like it that we're pampering the guys so they don't have to," Evans said. "Plus, we don't dress sexy or try to come off that way. It's like a spa for the men."

Bob Stahl, known as Umpire Bob around Acworth because, well, he umps a lot, said the chain salons couldn't touch a place like this.

"It's hard to find a decent barbershop anymore," he said. "I grew up in Missouri and that's what I remember, getting the straight-razor shave. And particularly in all this dry weather, it feels so good to get the hot moist towels on the face. It keeps my skin from flaking as much."

Evans counts on people like Stahl and Watkins becoming regulars. While the shop sits among male-friendly stores and restaurants, you can't see it from the main road, U.S. 41. Thus, her business is going to thrive or fail by word of mouth and repeat customers.

"It's been harder than I thought it'd be," Evans said about opening the shop. "The two shops I've worked at before were established and I guess I was a little naïve thinking that business would be here from Day One.

"I'm watching people walk by us on the sidewalk every day and it was killing me. People have their habits. If we can get them in here twice, it'll become their habit."

Watkins is sold.

"This was my first time," he said. "I'll be back."