As he worked to touch up a regular customer’s hair at his east Las Vegas barbershop, Alejandro Perez pondered the events of the past 18 months.
The coronavirus pandemic has been a disruptive time to be a small-business owner, he said, especially for a business that requires close contact with patrons.
“We had to shut down for three months, but still had to pay rent,” said Perez, owner of the Faded Talk shop near Flamingo and Sandhill roads. “I had savings that I used, but it was stressful. Now we have to wear masks again, but we just have to do what we have to do to not get shut down again.”
According to the state Barbers’ Health and Sanitation Board—a four-person committee that licenses and regulates the industry in Nevada—there are 272 barbershops in Southern Nevada, close to the same number that were in existence before the pandemic.
Elliott Chester, owner of two barbershops, including The Garrison store at Huntridge Center in Downtown Las Vegas, said he hasn’t heard of any shops in the Valley closing down for good due to the pandemic.
“I’m sure there have been a few barbers retire, but the barbering community has bounced back,” Chester said. “As a barber, you develop personal connections with people. If you sit in my chair long enough, you become a friend.”
During last year’s shutdown, many of those connections were temporarily lost.
Perez said it was a sight last summer when regular customers came in after shops reopened.
“People were desperate for a cut,” Perez said with a laugh. “People were looking ridiculous. We’re still busy now. We might be busier now than before the pandemic.”
As cities go, Las Vegas is arguably one of the best on the West Coast to be a barber. The city is full of performers and customer-facing employees who need to look good on a daily basis.
As Chester puts it, “people in the casinos and hotels need to look fresh.”
Chester, who has been cutting hair in Las Vegas for about 20 years, takes care of several UFC fighters and other pro athletes in town, including Conor McGregor, who is among the most well-known fighters in the world.
When he styles McGregor’s hair, however, he normally goes to him. And it’s usually late at night, Chester said.
“I grew up around the barbershop,” Chester said. “I’ve always enjoyed being in the shop, enjoyed the camaraderie. Being a barber is as close to hanging out with your buddies all day and getting paid for it as possible. It’s a big reason why people get into this. I’ve stood up at customers’ weddings and gone on vacation with them.”
Besides needing to be licensed by the state, barbers need to have the styling skills to attract return customers in what is a competitive marketplace.
But they also need to be good friends, listeners and sometimes even give advice.
“We spend 30 or 45 minutes with each customer,” Chester said. “At times, we hear some pretty crazy things. There are stories of barbers convincing depressed clients to not take their own life. There aren’t a lot of professions where you come into such close contact with a person. It’s like when somebody describes their doctor, they’ll say that’s ‘my doctor.’ It’s the same with barbers.”
While there’s a lot to keep track of on the barbering side of the operation, Chester said it’s important for shop owners to also stay up on the business side.
That likely would mean hiring an accountant, attorney or business manager, he said.
For Perez, who opened his shop in 2019, saving money for a rainy day—or pandemic—helped him stay afloat when he couldn’t cut hair last year.
As if it wasn’t enough to be shut down for two months last summer, Perez said his shop was also looted while it was dark. Thieves, he said, broke in through the roof of his building and left with four barber chairs and a television.
“We were able to get back on our feet again,” Perez said. “People feel good when they get a fresh cut, and that feels good as a barber. We’re artists, really. For me, it started as a hobby in school when I was at Las Vegas High School, but I was able to make a career out of it. That feels good.”
As he listened to Perez talk, Brandon Pringle, his customer in the chair at the time, talked about why he’s been a regular customer for more than two years.
“I’m a perfectionist and I know ’Jando will give me perfect haircuts,” Pringle said. “I’m from the east side, just like he is, and we all know each other. He’s an east side legend.”