“When one of the older barbers retired, I inherited Mr. Charlie as a customer. I’ve been cutting his hair for at least 20 years. He lives in Anahuac, but he’s been coming to Baytown all this time.

“More recently, he was doing good just to make it in. The next thing you know, his wife was bringing him. When she was unable to, a grandchild was doing it. Finally, it got to the point where it’s easier for me to just go to his house for a haircut and shave. I’ve done it about four times. I think he has Parkinson’s disease. He has around-the-clock care, and his wife is there with him. He’s a true gentleman and a super nice guy. I’m happy to drive out there for him.

“I turned 50 on March 12, and I’ve been cutting hair since I was 21. So I have a lot of longtime customers. If I’ve been cutting their hair for years, and if they followed me from the Trophy Barber Shop to my Baker Road location, and now to my new shop, that means something. These are not just customers. They’re friends, and I care about them. So when they call, or their wives call, and tell me they can no longer make it in, and ask if I can cut hair at their house — of course. I don’t mind at all.

“I’ve also cut hair at the Baytown hospital countless times. I’ve been to the medical center many times. I’ve been to every nursing home here in town. And I’ve even been to the funeral home twice. The wives will call and say, ‘He passed. Do you mind cutting his hair? Only you know how to do it.’

“The way I’ve always looked at it is, if I was laid up in the hospital or at a nursing home for a long time, I would want somebody to give me a haircut. To be able to make a person look better, feel better, and to have some pride in their appearance, it’s just a very meaningful thing.”

— Robert Gresham

He opened Baytown Barber Shop, at 4810 N. Main, a few months before the pandemic.

The post Yes, this barber makes house calls appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“I’ve been a hair stylist for over 35 years. My mother was a hair stylist, so I grew up in the salons. When I started, we worked together for a long period of time. Then I decided to move on and do my own thing. I opened my first salon back in 1996. Now I have two.

“Through the years, we’ve seen our share of ups and downs with the economy. We’ve always had slowdowns, but not a complete stop like this. I’ve been working one job or another since I was 12 years old. I’m 52 now, and this is the first time in all those years that I’m not working. Some of me says, you know what, this is pretty great. If I could do this and still make money, it would be pretty nice. But that’s not realistic right now. It’s scary. I don’t know what the future’s going to hold.

“A lot of hair stylists are in the same boat. Lots of people in the service industry are getting hit hard. Some people in corporate America are still able to work from home and continue to collect a paycheck. But if this goes on for a couple more months, fewer companies are going to be able to continue supporting their employees.

“I try to look on the bright side, though. When all this is over, which I’m hoping will be fairly soon, I think our industry will do well. People will want to come back in the salons. They’ll want to get their hair cut, their color done, their highlights, and feel good about themselves again.

“I was watching a friend try to buzz his head with a pair of clippers, and I was like, oh my gosh. Seriously, people are really going to appreciate us when this thing is over. For many years, some people dogged the beauty industry. They were like, oh, you’re just a bunch of flunky hairdressers. But without hair stylists, makeup artists and nail technicians, could you imagine what you would look like today?

“We’re a vital part of society. We help make people look good and feel good. And we can’t wait to get back to doing that again.”

— Anthony Skoog

Anthony owns the Green Apple Salons in Baytown and Montrose. During this time of social distancing, he says, “I’m just letting my hair grow.”

The post Hair salons impacted by coronavirus appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“When I was a kid, some people thought I was very snobbish because I wouldn’t speak. But it was because I didn’t hear them, and I talked like a baby. So I took speech for a long time. The lady who taught me was from Mississippi. That’s why I have this accent. I’m from Goose Creek, but I have a Mississippi accent.

“Most people don’t know that I’m deaf. I had a sister-in-law who came to me for a haircut one day. Apparently, she said, ‘Don’t cut it real short.’ Well, I thought I heard her say, ‘Cut it real short,’ and that’s what I did. Overall, I did fine cutting hair. It helped that I stood behind people in the chair because then I could watch them in the mirror and read their lips.”

— Betty Arabie

Related:

• For her, it was about more than just cutting hair
• Her son stays strong while battling colon cancer

The post She’s never let hearing loss slow her down appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“When you’re a hairdresser, you talk about everything with them. You help solve their problems, and sometimes they help you. But I tell you what, the men were bigger talkers than the women. Boy howdy. You get a man in there and get him talking about something, and he’ll go on and on and on about it. If there’s not really anyone in the shop but maybe one lady under the dryer and you’re doing the man’s hair and he’s had a bad day, he’ll tell you all about it.

“After my divorce I moved to Coldspring, where I had an antique shop and a beauty shop. I would do men’s haircuts there, too. I like to talk and I’ve always been very friendly, so I guess some of the guys took it the wrong way. While their wife was outside walking around in the little town square, the men would ask me out. That happened several times. And I would say, ‘Just a minute. As soon as your wife gets back in here, I’ll ask her if it’s OK if we can go out.’ And they’d go, ‘No, no, don’t do that.’ Of course, I never did. But I thought that was pretty interesting.”

— Betty Arabie

Related:

• She’s never let hearing loss slow her down
• Her son stays strong while battling colon cancer

The post For her, it was about more than just cutting hair appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“At this point in the game, I just do whatever makes me happy on a daily basis.”

What makes you most happy?
“When I’m at work with my friends. In my job, I get to talk with people every day that I know pretty well and have developed a relationship with. Some of them have been my clients since I started cutting hair more than 30 years ago. I cut their hair, their kids’ hair, and now their kids are grown and married and they have kids.

“I have a tendency to stop working my hands whenever my mouth is engaged. I think that’s OK because with a lot of people, I feel like they came to visit. We catch up on things: their lake house, their grandkids, whatever. I guess my hairdressing and socializing all kind of blend together. Most of my clients enjoy that. I hope they look at it like, I’m not just going to get a haircut today, I’m going to see Paul.”

— Paul O’Banion

(Update: Paul passed away in October 2017.)

The post Hair stylist enjoys visiting as much as cutting appeared first on The Baytown Project.

“Years ago, I had just started cutting hair when this lady came in and showed me a photo of what she wanted. I did the best that I could, but she wasn’t happy and began complaining.

“What she really wanted, nobody could do. She wanted to look like the model in the photo. The problem was, she was a big lady and she wanted to look slim.

“She went out the door with a free haircut. I was upset and crying a little, but my friend who worked there told me it wasn’t my fault. She said you’ve got to watch people and be ready for them when they come in, because some are going to test you.

“That’s the only real bad experience I’ve ever had cutting hair.”

The post Early lesson learned: customer always right appeared first on The Baytown Project.