Corridor shops focus on traditional haircuts

CEDAR RAPIDS — Larry McKinnon and Virgin Henley graduated from barber college in 1960.

They were among the top five barbers in the class. This meant they were allowed to work on the customers who sat in one of the first five barber chairs and typically were the elite clientele, who often tipped better than other customers.

McKinnon, fresh from the U.S. Navy, cut the hair of his fellow sailors, but had to undergo barber training in Iowa before he was allowed to be licensed.

So he quickly rose to the top of the class.

McKinnon, the best barber in the class, worked on customers in the first chair. Henley, just a few chairs down, gave his first haircut to Howard Hall. And nearly 54 years later, Henley and McKinnon still are barbering in Cedar Rapids.

'People go where they're welcome and stay where they're treated well,' Henley said.

Henley now barbers alongside his wife, Janice Henley, in the same shop they've operated in for nearly 50 years.

McKinnon has been at his barbershop located on the northwest side of Cedar Rapids since 1981.

Most barbers will make sure to highlight the distinction between their work and that of cosmetologists. A typical barber offers a haircut — to a man or a woman — along with a beard trim and neck massage. McKinnon said while he cuts some women's hair, the majority of his clients are men.

Iowa barbers have to obtain a license from the Iowa Board of Barbers upon completion training at a barber school that has been licensed by the state. After being licensed by the board, Iowa barbers must renew their credentials every two years by completing additional paperwork.

Barbering focuses more on hair clippers and cutting dry hair, while cosmetology typically includes other aspects of hairstyling, including coloring, hair straightening and waving.

Frett's Barbershop in Marion is what Donna Jones calls a traditional barbershop. There are only walk-ins, with haircuts and beard trims.

Jones manages her father's barbershop where she works with her sister and sister-in-law, along with another female barber. Her father, Clarence Frett, has owned and operated the store since 1949 and retired six years ago at the age of 88.

Jones received her education from the American College of Hairstyling, located in downtown Cedar Rapids, as did McKinnon and Henley.

Jones said their clientele ranges in age, as she has given children their first haircuts, along with trimming the beards of customers who have been visiting her father's shop since he first opened.

And while the shop isn't new — Frett's has been in its same 10th Street location in Marion since the 1960s — she said as Marion grows, she has seen more new customers walking through the door.

Upon opening the business, barbers purchase chairs, clippers and other equipment. Overhead is one of the most expensive aspects of an otherwise cost-efficient business.

'Once you get basic shop set up, there really aren't many big expenses,' Jones said.

According to the Iowa Department of Public Health, 1,840 licensed barbers and instructors are in Iowa. In 2013, there were 1,788 licenses, and in 2012 there were 1,944.

Henley said most of his clientele is older, as fewer young people go to barbershops for haircuts.

'You need new people to build businesses,' he said, but 'kids go to the malls.'

Henley keeps a telephone book from early in his barbering career. In it, there are more than 50 barbers listed — but his shop is the only one listed in it that still exists in Cedar Rapids.

'You hate to see it become a lost art,' Jones said. 'I don't think (it will die out). I think there will always be barbers.'

For McKinnon, barbering has become one of the many jobs he's had. He worked in taxidermy, and the pheasants, quails, deer and even elk horns hang in his shop. If he chooses to retire from barbering, he said he could seen himself returning to taxidermy.

But he doesn't see that happening anytime soon.

'I don't even think about it, truthfully,' McKinnon said.

McKinnon, 78, calls his clients down-to-earth, ordinary people like himself, taking pride in his assumption that he gives the most flat-top haircuts in Cedar Rapids.

'I'm pretty lucky,' McKinnon said. 'I stay busy most of the time.'