EVERETT — The “$5.00 Haircuts” sign on Evergreen Way is a real head-turner.
What’s up with that?
The price seems too good to be true, and we all know what they say about deals like that.
Time to investigate.
Following the arrows on the hand-painted sidewalk sign, I found myself at a nondescript side door at 6712 Evergreen Way.
Inside, Beverly Brown tapered a fade on the man in her barber chair, clippers buzzing near his ear.
Brown is a student at AHC Barber & Beauty College.
“We get things from this experience that aren’t in the textbooks,” said Brown, 57.
The $5 haircuts give students hands-on practice, and brave clients get a sweet deal. Walk-ins are taken whenever the sign is up, usually 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.
Other services are listed inside the door on a whiteboard: A beard trim is $5. Hot shave, $10. Women’s cuts are $8.
Cash only.
The payment goes to the school. Students keep the tips.
The school is run by Don Sharrett, who has been in the hair biz for over 40 years. His AHC Salon sits at the front of the building, between Patty’s Eggnest and Superfast Tax Services along the main strip.
At 84, Sharrett still zips between the salon and the school, which also offers cosmetology training.
Morning barbering classes combine traditional textbook lessons with Sharrett’s old-school tricks of the trade. Students can relax on the couch and watch instructional DVDs.
The curriculum includes the history of barbering, which Brown found intriguing.
“Barbers were considered surgeons,” she said. “They did everything from bloodletting to pulling teeth.”
Fun fact: The red and white striped barber pole symbolizes bloody and clean bandages. The pole itself represents the staff patients gripped to make their veins pop for bloodletting. (Yikes!)
Modern barbering is more holistic.
“I teach articulation and speech. We talk a lot. Barbers talk a lot,” Sharrett said.
They also listen a lot and stand on their feet all day.
The $5 haircuts are an important part of barber boot camp.
“It’s so they can get better, and it builds their confidence as well,” Sharrett said.
Ebrima Jammeh graduated from the program six years ago.
“A good haircut can change someone’s day,” he said. “It’s a rewarding career.”
Jammeh now works in the front salon with Sharrett and also assists in teaching future barbers.
“I tell the students: ‘Car-wise, when you are in school you’re like a Honda Civic. When you graduate and go out front, then you’re like a Beemer,’” he said.
The barber school takes about six months, with students required to pass a state exam to become licensed. Other beauty colleges in the area also offer low-cost cuts by students.
For Uber driver Javier Bimendel, the $5 deal was too good to pass up.
“I saw the sign,” he said. He usually pays $30 for a haircut.
He sat down with AHC barber student John Wrice, explaining how he wanted the top and sides. Bimendel nodded in approval at the end result.
When asked (by me) to grade Wrice’s work, Bimendel examined his reflection for a moment and touched the back of his neck.
“I’d give it a B,” he said, pointing out a few pinkish spots from the blade.
Wrice appreciated the honest feedback.
“Put that in the story. It’s fair,” he said before sweeping the hair clippings into a dustpan and heading to lunch — at 2:30 p.m.
Client flow determines when breaks happen. Wrice relies on Monster energy drinks, Gatorade and protein bars to get through long days.
Wrice, 32, worked a variety of jobs — restaurant, warehouse, construction and flagging — before landing on barbering in February. He hopes to finish in July.
“I wanted a good trade,” he said. “Everybody needs a barber, no matter where you go in the world.”
It’s more than just cutting hair.
“We were working on parasites last week,” he said. “You really have to clean the guards.”
On a typical day, Wrice does about five cuts.
He’ll never forget his first.
“A dude came and he showed me a picture of actor Idris Elba and said he wanted to look like him,” Wrice recalled. “I told him, ‘I can get you somewhere close.’”
But?
“It was nowhere near,” he said.
When Wrice showed him the back in the mirror, the man shook his head.
Wrice apologized: “I said, ‘I’m sorry about that.’”
The man said, “It’s cool. It will grow back.”
And?
“He ended up coming back,” Wrice said. “Next time I did a better job.”
Got a story for “What’s Up With That?” Hit me up at reporterbrown@gmail.com or 425-422-7598.
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