A tradition of excellence continues in downtown Logan
For Fred Smith, every head is a new challenge.
He owns King Hair on Main Street in Logan.
“It’s a hairy business, but we’re still hanging in there,” Smith said.
Just over 5 feet tall with his own dark brown hair slicked down, Smith runs from room to room in his barbershop, cleaning after a day at work.
He has been a barber for a long time.
After his father put him through barber school so he would have something to fall back on, Smith majored in business at USU while working part time at the family business, called Modern Barber Shop.
One day, one of his father’s main barbers quit and he said he would fill in full time for a while.
“I’ve been here ever since,” Smith said.
But he doesn’t regret it.
He said he wonders what would have happened if he had done something else, but the hair business has been good to him.
Visiting with people and cutting hair are the things Smith says he likes to do best.
“I’ve met a lot of people and cut a lot of hair,” Smith said. “Some famous, some not.”
Smith said he would never have the chance to meet the people he has if he wasn’t in the hair business.
He boasts that he has cut the hair of almost all of the coaches at USU. Other notables include former presidents of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ezra Taft Benson and Howard W. Hunter.
Smith says he doesn’t get caught up in the gossip usually found in a barbershop, but he hears plenty.
“People tell us a lot of things we don’t want to know,” Smith said. “Things we don’t care to know, but they’ll tell you.”
King Hair started in 1971 when Smith bought Modern Barber Shop from his father and changed the name.
Smith and his wife, Linda, decided to move the barbershop to the building they are in now, at 118 N. Main in Logan. Linda bought the building because she was working at the Smith’s grocery store at the time and making more money than Fred.
“It’s in my name,” Linda said. “Fred is worried.”
Before they bought the building, which was previously a bakery, they had to clean it out and remodel, but almost lost the space because they didn’t have the money to get the facility up to city code requirements.
Thankfully for the Smiths, they were able to keep their shop after replacing the roof and removing the huge ovens inside the building.
“The reason we’re OK is because we’ve both worked hard and what we have is paid for,” Linda said.
At first, King Hair was a traditional barbershop and Smith had three barbers working for him. Now the store has 30 stylists. Smith said he was one of the first to combine men and women.
“Now they can bring the whole family,” Smith said.
The biggest risk Smith says has made in his life was starting King Hair.
“People probably thought I was crazy,” he said. “I know my dad did.”
Even though it was risky at first, Smith said it has worked out great for him.
“It’s a demanding business,” Smith said. “It’s like milking cows. I’m the first to come and the last to leave. You pay the price.”
Smith said anyone wanting to start their own business should realize it is going to require long hours and hard work.
Hair and people are Smith’s passions, but his great sense of humor and love for Diet Coke get him through, said Maria Jones, a stylist at King Hair.
Jones said it is great to work for Smith because he treats everyone like they are his family. He is helpful and always supportive of a good cause, she said.
“He looks out for us and our best interests,” Jones said.
She said he will always ask them ‘What’s the word?’ and always tells them about his “wild days with his Corvette.”
Smith is always working, Jones said – even on his day off. She said he is a very hard worker.
“There’s not much unique about me,” Smith said. “I’m just a barber.”
Not according to the people who know him.
Kristina Smith has been married to his son, Dave, for three years now.
She says he is a hard worker, a good listener and a caring person.
“He enjoys his job, but it’s more for the people,” Kristina said. “I can see him as an entertainer – singing and dancing.”
Kristina said it is fun to see Fred and Dave work together, noting they have a good relationship for a father and a son who work together.
In fact, Dave’s story is a lot like Fred’s.
After he lost the student body president election at USU by three votes, he needed to get away. So he went to Utah Technical College (now Salt Lake Community College) for hair school.
He started working at King Hair part time when he came back to USU.
Dave graduated with degrees in business and political science, but he said he liked cutting hair and decided to stay in the business, too.
Linda said they made Dave a manager right away so the women who worked there would respect him. It worked.
“I manage Fred now,” Dave said.
He said it has been good to work with his dad because they get along well.
“It’s rare that a father and son can do that,” Dave said.
He loves the Jazz and the Aggies and the public loves him, Dave said.
Dave said the reasons his dad keeps working is because he likes the association with the people and he likes to get out of the house.
“He’s happy-go-easy and non-confrontational,” Dave said. “He’s an icon of downtown.”
King Hair is located at 118 N. Main Street in downtown Logan, for anyone who needs a haircut, and no appointment is needed.
-hollyadams@cc.usu.edu