Hats Off Barbering drops the price of a trim

When barbershop owner Vickie Thompson saw more people dealing with tough economic times, she decided to take a little bit off the top of the price of a haircut.

She said she’s not sure how much help a $2 price cut can be, but dropping the price of a men’s haircut from $10 to $8 is a “nice gesture” to people who are letting their hair grow longer to make ends meet.

“People used to go paycheck to paycheck,” Thompson said. “Now they go minute to minute.”

Last week Charlie Twiggs walked in to Hats Off Barbering on Timberlake Road in Campbell County and sat down in front of Thompson. He came in because he saw a marquee sign outside saying that the price had dropped to $8. He normally gets his hair trimmed every three weeks for $13 a pop.

Twiggs, of Lynchburg, said he makes a habit of being frugal, even if he doesn’t save huge sums by it.

“If gas is a penny cheaper, I’m going to go where it’s a penny cheaper,” Twiggs said. “If someone’s going to save me a couple bucks, I might as well give it to him, instead of the one that’s overcharging me.”

Thompson started Hats Off Barbering along with another barber, Sim Scott, last July. Business took off well enough that they took in two other hairstylists, Thompson said.

One of those was Tamara Wilson. She said the last shop where she worked closed down unexpectedly, which set her on the search for a new one.

Their plan in the summer was to gradually increase their prices. It was after that that “everything hit the fan,” Thompson said.

Falling stock markets and rising unemployment made some of their customers more frugal. People let their hair grow longer and shaggier between cuts to save as much money as possible.

Recently the economy really hit home for Thompson and some of her friends. Her sister’s husband, a truck driver, lost his job. A friend’s husband was laid off.

“You don’t really realize how it affects people until it happens to someone you know,” she sad.

It was then that Thompson and Scott decided to cut the price of a men’s haircut from $10 to $8 to help customers afford haircuts.

The price cut does make it hard to make ends meet at the shop, where the electric bill jumped $100 in a month recently. But Scott said they enjoy cutting hair and socializing. Also, the price drop has helped attract some customers.

“I don’t know that it makes a difference,” Thompson said. “But we’re trying to help a little bit.” She said she wishes more businesses would cut their prices as a way to help out.

“We’re not going to change the world, are we?” Thompson said, trimming Twiggs’ hair.

Twiggs shrugged his shoulders. “Well, you never know.”