Get to know the clippers of USU
USU students don’t need to travel far to get a haircut with the Barber Shop located in the TSC. Girls and guys alike can stop by anytime without an appointment to get cuts, color or even a scalp massage. Although they no longer shave beards, they still do beard trimmings.
Cheri Housley is the owner of the Barber Shop and said that even before she owned it, she enjoyed working there because it was “fun to be around people who come from all over the world.”
Housley said that every time a student comes in for a haircut, if they’re from somewhere outside of Utah they get to put a pin in the world map the employeers have hung up in their room. The map is covered with pins ranging from the shores of Alaska to Africa and Russia.
“It’s so fun to meet people from all over the world,” said Angela Nielson, a barber in her second year working at the shop.
Nielson said she has a collection of pictures she’s taken of previous hair cuts and said sometimes when students come in she gives them her book to help them pick a style they like and want.
Nielson said she is the only full-time barber at the shop and has worked in several different beauty parlors and hair salons and even owned her own shop in Preston before she came to USU’s Barber Shop.
“It’s fun to see all the younger trends,” Nielson said. “Boys these days just don’t comb their hair anymore. They like it so they can wake up, throw some gel in it, and walk out the door.”
She said she’s noticed the trends getting shorter and shorter. She said even with the girls that come in for a haircut, they tend to get shorter and shorter, and that people go longer between haircuts. She attributed this to the economy and the busy college student schedule.
Laurie Chappuis is one of the newest staff members at the Barber Shop ,and though she’s been cutting hair for 18 years already, she said one of her favorite things about working at the US Barber shop is being around the students and the friendly environment.
Although, it’s not only students who come in for a haircut.
“We’ve had the President come in for a haircut along with other members of administration and faculty,” Nielson said.
Housley said the girls who work in the Barber shop love to have a good time and spend a lot of time socializing with the students when they come in. She says they often have students come in to hang out in the empty chairs, sleep, study, and get study help from the ladies who work there.
“It’s fun to go out and see your haircuts and your clients around town,” Chappuis said. “You can always tell from sitting behind people who’s had their haircut done by a roommate, their mom, or themselves, and who’s had it done well.”
The shop has just started a new promotion for students. If a student buys a $4 Barber Shop T-shirt, then wears it the day they come in for a haircut, the student automatically receives $2 off the price of a normally $13 haircut. Housley said the shop gets mostly male clientele but they still do girl’s haircuts and enjoy socializing with all students.
Housley said they learn a lot from the students about the current research going on, the best places to eat in town and what’s going on around campus.
“Oh, we love matchmaking,” Housley said. “If you need a date just stop by for a quick hair cut and I can set you up. I’ve got about a 50 percent success rate.”
– jessica.black@aggiemail.usu.edu
THE BARBER SHOP IS OWNED by Cheri Housley, who worked there even before she bought the shop. The shop is currently having a promotion that if students by a T-shirt, they receive $2 off a haircut. BENJAMIN WOOD photo