Aryn Sanderson
asanderson@mustangdaily.net
It’s five o’clock somewhere, and that somewhere is Clippers on Monterey Street, where you can drink a beer in the barber’s chair.
“The owner Brian (Osgood) had the idea because he was sick of hit-and-miss haircuts, and he wanted a comfortable spot for guys to go,” manager Kristen Debruijn said.
That’s where the beer comes in.
Trim and a brewski, please
Clippers, which opened in March 2007, sees around 30 to 80 customers daily and, of those, anywhere from three to 20 order a beer with their haircut, cosmetologist Briana Tapia said.
On a Friday evening, approximately 50 percent of customers order a beer, she said. But that number’s a lot lower on, say, a Monday morning.
“When they just get off work and come in, they’ll get a beer with their haircut … or if they had a really tough night before,” Tapia said. “It’ll be 10:30 in the morning, and we’ll ask if they want anything to drink, thinking they’ll ask for a coffee, but if it was a rough night before, they’re like, ‘Can I get a Shock Top?’”
With leather couches, flat-screen TVs and Mumford & Sons pumping through the sound system, Clippers seems more like a mancave than a barbershop.
Not a barbershop
Clippers has an all-female staff of cosmetologists. Although trained barbers come and go, the permanent staff consists of cosmetologists. By summer, many of the permanent cosmetologists will have barber’s licenses.
The Clippers staff colors men’s hair — the shop’s most popular is “gray camo coloring,” a dye job for salt-and-pepper hair. The cosmetologists also wax men (“Nothing below the belt though!” one of the cosmetologists said) and feather razor facial shaves.
Though they’re not barbers, the hairstylists focus on men’s hair, and the atmosphere is geared toward guys, Tapia said.
“We’re cute girls who know what we’re doing,” Tapia said. “We remember our customers, we know their names, we give them advice.”
Clients often ask for hair advice when looking for a woman’s perspective, Tapia said.
“We keep it at a really professional level and a really honest level,” she said.
Receptionist Kayla Brown said the cosmetologists are “friendly, welcoming and creative.”
“They’re really patient,” Brown said. “Everyone takes the time to do a really good job with great attention to detail. They pay attention to what each client wants.”
VIP treatment
Brown points to a stream of “VIP” regulars as proof.
Customers who purchase the “VIP” treatment get unlimited haircuts for a year, one beer with each cut and a 10-percent discount on products. Approximately 250 people have a Clippers VIP pass this year. The pass costs $219 in one payment or $20 more in monthly increments.
Some clients are a different sort of VIP. Clippers cosmeticians have cut the hair of San Francisco Giants commentator Mike Krukow and rock trio Los Lonely Boys, who got haircuts before performing at this past summer’s California Mid-State Fair.