Buzz good for Bayport barber

Long Island Business News October 30, 2009 | Ambrose Clancy Lisa Sesso wasn’t going to be shut out this time.

After working for 23 years cutting men’s and boys’ hair in other people’s shops, she had a chance awhile ago to open her own place. But someone beat her to the punch to buy the established barber shop she’d had her eye on.

“I decided the next opportunity I got I was going to jump on it, so I’d never again say, ‘Shoulda, coulda, woulda,’” Sesso said.

Her opportunity is now a reality in the form of an 800-square- foot space in Bayport called Hats Off. Sesso welcomed her first client two weeks ago.

She did her homework, scouting the area thoroughly before deciding that a small barber shop would survive in her location.

The startup cost was about $8,000 and Sesso is marketing herself to the tune of about $400 a month, mostly through flyers, print ads and the Internet. see here new york state department of education

The nearest chain salon, a Head Cutters, is about half a mile from Hats Off. Sesso will compete with the big boys by pushing personal service even while charging a bit more. Head Cutters generally charges around $10 for mens’ and boys’ cuts, while Sesso’s rates are $12 for men and $10 for boys.

She also has a policy of honoring any coupon that is given out by the big chains.

Independent barber shops seem to be holding their own against the chain salons. Figures are difficult to tease out from general data, but people spent about $45.7 billion taking care of their hair last year and the chain salons raked in about $10 billion of that.

Christopher Felder, owner of Hempstead’s Long Island Barber Institute, a New York State Department of Education-licensed school that trains master barbers, said he’s seen enrollment swell the last three years. The past year he’s spotted a trend of older students, those in their 40s and 50s, applying.

“In hard times people always look for a trade,” Felder said.

The advantages of a chain salon for those who have achieved a master barber’s certificate from the state is that most of the big outfits offer health insurance and other benefits, while traditional four-seat barbershops don’t, Felder said.

“They’re also good places to get real work experience,” he added. site new york state department of education

Mark Borukhov has run Syosset’s Mark’s Barber Shop for nine years and said business has slowed due to rising unemployment rates. “If you’ve lost your job, why do you need to get your hair cut?” he asked.

But he had no fear of competition from large salons. Long-time clients have defected to the chains but they were soon back in his fold. “The big chains don’t know how to cut hair,” he said. “We know what we’re doing.” Sesso’s made her shop inviting and low key, she said, with warm colors and a totally modern look from the mirrors down to the flooring. “I wanted people to come and say, ‘Wow,’ and that’s what I’ve been hearing,” she said.

Asked why she preferred cutting men’s hair as opposed to women’s, Sesso said it was a matter of where her talents have taken her. “Some people can do some things better than others,” she said. “It’s so much easier for me to do a flat top or a fade then to do a Jennifer Aniston look, and other people it’s just the opposite.” Being successful means being current with styles, and Sesso said she easily mastered the hottest look for teenage boys.

“The boys are wearing their hair longer these days and want the messy look, the beach look,” she said.

Times have changed since she started two decades ago. “We’d have men come in and ask for the barber, and when you said you were the barber they’d walk out angry,” Sesso said.

But these days only about 5 percent of men won’t let a woman near their hair, she said.

“And there are men who don’t want a man to cut their hair but prefer a woman,” Sesso said.

Ambrose Clancy