Being a barber is about more than cutting hair

*I like stories like this one, that find the extraordinary in what we think of as ordinary. They provide texture to our community. VL

By Ray Salazar, The White Rhino (5.5 minute read)

Fred Castillo knows that when a man walks out of a barbershop, “Most of the time, you feel like a million bucks.”  While Fred feels proud of his work, he also sees that it’s about more than cutting hair.  “It’s about building a friendship,” Fred explains.  “At the barbershop, you develop a bond with the person you see every couple of weeks.”

I met Fred about seven years ago when I walked into a Southwest side barbershop trying to get a cut and beard line up before Thanksgiving.  I didn’t have an appointment; the place was packed.  By chance, I sat in Fred’s chair.  And I’ve followed him as he’s moved to at least five barbershops.  Fred is good at what he does.

Fred decided to open his own shop over a year ago in Lyons and then Burbank, both shops right outside of Chicago. After leasing these two spots, Fred chose to open 312 Men’s Barbershop on Pershing Road near Oak Park Avenue in Stickney, minutes from Chicago’s Southwest side.

This location, next to a few other small businesses, caught his eye a few years ago but was always leased.  But in the spring of 2016, Fred opened the doors to the barbershop he’s wanted for a long time.

Fred’s 312 Men’s Barbershop minutes outside of Chicago

“It’s something old fashioned but new at the same time,” Fred says.   While the shop’s design is industrial with metallic finishes and caged lighting, classic elements make up the essence of Fred’s shop.  A metal sign he got from an old barbershop that closed and that Fred remembers as a kid hangs near his station. A barber pole from the 1920s stands near the entrance.  Mirrors, some framed with rugged wood, hang above metal cabinets at each station.  Black and classically sleek upholstered sofas with elegantly buttoned high backs—custom made—sit near the large-screen TV adorned with custom artwork.

But the most impressive piece of furniture is the chairs.  The refurbished Koken chairs—with most of the work done by Fred—go back to the early 1900s.  These chairs revolutionized the barber shop experience when they first appeared with hydraulic lifts.  Before that, barbers had to lift, push down, or spin a chair to adjust it.

A Koken barber chair restored by Fred Castillo

Fred started investing in and refurbishing these classic chairs a few years ago.  “I wanted to open a business and wanted a nice chair.  I didn’t know how to work the chairs. There was that bit of negativity.  What if it breaks down?  Nobody knows how to fix the chairs,” Fred remembers doubting.  “So I gambled my chances and I took it apart. It took me 6 months to put it back together.  I got the concept of how everything works.”  Fred gets the chrome restored and the cushioned seats re-upholstered.  He assembles the chairs himself.

At first, Fred just wanted a Koken chair for his station.  “But,” he reflects, “ I’m the type of person who wants to do things as a team.  If I’m going to do something nice for me, I’m going to do something nice for others, too.”  Fred’s barbershop is home to eight of these classic chairs.  There’s even a small one for toddlers.

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Fred emphasizes that at his shop, it’s all about the customer—how they’re greeted, how they’re treated.

While he’ll give almost any barber the benefit of the doubt when they contact him about renting a chair, Fred ensures he surrounds himself with a good team. . . READ MORE

Since 1995, Ray has been an English teacher in the Chicago Public Schools. In 2003, Ray earned an M.A. in Writing, with distinction, from DePaul University. In 2009, he received National Board Certification. His writing aired on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio many times and have been published in the Chicago Tribune and CNN. For thirty years, Ray lived in Chicago’s 26th Street neighborhood. Today, he lives a little more south and a little more west in the city with his wife, son, and daughter.