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The nearly 100-year-old shop, marked by a striped barber’s pole, is located on Davis Avenue off Broad Street. (BizSense file photo)
Two months after scissor sales ceased, a longtime Richmond barbershop has reopened with new management.
The 100-year-old William Byrd Hotel Barber Shop closed in late October but reopened two weeks ago.
The temporary closure was due to a change in operator after the previous leaseholder chose not to renew the lease. The closure gives Epoch Properties, the high-rise property management company, time to find a new owner.
The shop is currently run by Sean Tremblay, a barber who moved to Richmond after cutting hair in Williamsburg and Norfolk for four years.
Sean Trembley
Mr. Trembley, 52, said he was looking for a place to work in Richmond when he came across an ad in early November seeking a new operator of the William Byrd store.
“I wanted to work in a traditional, old-fashioned barbershop. An honest, no-frills, old-fashioned barbershop,” he said. “I saw an ad for this place and stopped by to take a look. It has history, almost 100 years of history, and is exactly the kind of place I wanted to work at.”
Trembley said he contacted Kim Adams, the building’s general manager, and then contacted Epoch’s Matt DeWorken, who signed a lease on Dec. 6. He did not disclose the length or other terms of the lease.
Tremblay said the lease is his first business as a business owner, and three of the barbers who previously worked at the shop, including Yvona Preisner, who cut hair there for nearly 20 years, He said he had rehired him.
Ivona Preisner (right) was rehired along with two other barbers who previously worked at the shop. (Photo by Sean Tremblay)
Trembley is looking for a fifth barber, but the store will remain the same and will be open Tuesday through Saturday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays. He said he would be open for business.
Since reopening the week before Christmas, Tremblay said the store has been busy and welcoming back longtime customers.
“There are a lot of people who are eager to open a shop. They’ve been coming here for generations,” he said. “We’ve cut people’s hair who have been getting their hair cut here for 60 years. There are a lot of people who are looking forward to this place opening again.”
The William Byrd Barber Shop, located in the foundation of a former hotel across from the Science Museum of Virginia, dates back to 1925, when the hotel opened. His 11-story building has been renovated by William Byrd Hotel Associates and is now home to senior apartments. The Virginia Community Development Corporation and the housing nonprofit Project:Homes own and lease the barbershop.
Located across from the Science Museum of Virginia, the 11-story former hotel is now a luxury apartment building. (BizSense file photo)
The shop was previously operated by Bill and Dennis Robertson, who owned Brovado Barber Shop in Midlothian. Bill said in October that he chose not to renew his lease after a year, citing personal and financial factors that required him to focus on Brovado.
William Byrd Barber Shop has been closed for a while due to changes in management, even after the retirement of long-time barber William “Willie” Carleton, Joanne Williams.
Carlton, who owned the store from 1960 to 1995, worked there from 1948 until his death in 2013. Former governors Tim Kaine and Terry McAuliffe were among Mr. Carlton’s and the barbershop’s longtime customers.
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