The neighborhood barbershop isn’t just an old boys’ club. In fact, at The Place to Go Hairstyling, you won’t find any old boys tending the chairs. But in those chairs you will find plenty of boys of all ages, as well as women and kids.
Cheryl Allen, who co-owns the Bardstown Road shop with her husband, Jim, laughs at the suggestion that her staff might be offended by the designation “lady barbers.” “Absolutely not!” she says of her seven-person staff. “We wouldn’t have it any other way!” Jim originally opened the shop in the 2000 block of Bonnycastle Avenue in 1977, taking over a tiny two-chair business. In 1983, the couple opened a second shop in Germantown with a view to closing the Highlands location, but they couldn’t bear to part with the neighborhood. The Allens eventually turned over the Germantown spot to Jim’s brother and sister, and in 1989 bought a new building, moving the flagship store to its present spot, just around the corner at 1607 Bardstown Road.
It was Jim who got Cheryl into his business about 30 years ago. Cheryl says she more or less retired in the early 1990s to concentrate on raising their two sons. At about the same time the Allens moved their business to Bardstown Road, Jim returned to a different kind of roots: as a musician. Converting a former dry cleaning business and apartment flat into a barbershop and a bar – the Hideaway Saloon, which shares the address – was no easy task. “We couldn’t afford to hire someone, so he built it from the ground up,” Cheryl says. Today, their older son Jesse is the manager at the Hideaway. “He’s in the family business, but not the hair part,” says Cheryl. “He has long hair, and that’s about it.”
Even if their own kids didn’t pick up the scissors, the Allens still managed to create a tight-knit family of stylists. “The girls seem like family to me, and I love the Highlands and catering to the people here,” says Connie Robinson, who joined the crew in 1990.
There isn’t much of a demand for straight-razor shaves, but the ladies at The Place to Go are happy to offer beard trims, as well as perms and hair dyeing. Robinson notes that the clientele used to be more men, but not anymore. “It’s pretty even now, because a lot of the girls here do color and that brings in a lot of women clientele. Plus, we do a lot of kids,” she says.
To this day, Cheryl continues to patronize the business she and Jim built 35 years ago, traveling from their home in Germantown. “We never could afford to buy a home in the Highlands,” she says. “It was the business or the house. Always the business. And we couldn’t stand to leave the Highlands.”
Robinson shares her boss’ enthusiasm. “I can’t imagine working anywhere else, really,” she says. “I know we’re not any kind of froufrou shop, but I love it here. It’s different every day.”
The Place to Go in the Highlands is at 1607 Bardstown Road. The shop is open at 10 a.m., Monday through Friday, and closes at 6 p.m., except on Wednesday and Thursday when they are open till 7 p.m.; Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Walk-ins are welcome, but call (502) 452-6897 for an appointment.
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