MAN the magazine reports on the business of men's grooming for the professional barber or men's hairstylist, including popular hairstyles, products and men's grooming services.
Issue link: https://manthemag.epubxp.com/i/703974
20 I M A N I P R E M I E R E 2 0 1 6 in the shop Former MLB pitcher Keith Weiser knows some things about male camaraderie. One, he spent a lot of time between 2006 and 2012 on the Colorado Rockies baseball team and, two, he's the grandson of one of Ohio's top veteran barbers. This would explain why The Bowtie Barber Club is often described as "a cross between an old-time barbershop and a clubhouse." Most of the regulars at Weiser's fl agship location in Nashville opt for the shop's $10 monthly membership. Here, among the bowtie-sporting barbers, Club Members receive monthly discounts on haircuts and retail products, as well as free shoe shines. Each month, they're invited into the 1,300-square-foot, speakeasy-like space for after-hours, XY- centric events such as Poker Night, and Beer, Bourbon and Cigar Night. Opened in April 2016, Weiser's 1,800-square-foot, second location in his hometown of Oxford, Ohio, offers three separate rooms, one of which he and his father converted into a private, membership-exclusive lounge. The owner markets the membership to the many students attending nearby Miami University, and he hasn't been short on takers. Members can come and go as they please, even if they're not getting a haircut, and many students like to take advantage of The Bowtie Barber Club's luxe leather chairs and free-fl owing root beer. "I wanted to reclaim the quality of the custom barber experience as well as position my shop as a community nexus," sums up Weiser. "Men want to feel like they're part of something, rather than just coming into an uncomfortable place and getting a haircut." Paging fans of adventure: Step into Daniel Alfonso Men's Salon, and you'll be surrounded by 200-plus-year-old thrones, mirrors mounted to chains, bull's horns and even some turquoise cowhides. "In catering to a man's every grooming need we wanted to create a kingly atmosphere," says Alfonso, whose space just happens to occupy the former West Hollywood penthouse building of royalty, namely piano and style virtuoso Liberace. Despite neighborhood barbershops' recent surge in popularity, this salon proprietor feels that as a stylist, he can provide more than he could as a barber. "Here, you can get your hair cut by one of us, go to another one of us for color, and see yet another team member for a beard trim—all while we're refi lling your whiskey or coffee," Alfonso points out. To scout out talented men's stylists, Alfonso, who markets his own skills via YouTube (to the tune of 20 million views), scours Instagram and other social media. "I'm building an all-star team, so the people who work with me must already have considerable social media following," he says. (Even much of the salon's antique décor items were found via Pinterest.) Looking forward, Alfonso believes that the concept of the "metrosexual" has made way for simply the "well-groomed guy," and that this shift signals a demand for a more comprehensive menu of men's styling services. Ancient aesthetics, meet modern marketing! THE BOWTIE BARBER CLUB > Oxford, Ohio, and Nashville e Oxford, Ohio, and Nashville THE BOWTIE HYBRID: Old-time barbershop meets clubhouse ALFONSO SALON: Cultivating kingliness by Katie O'Reilly DANIEL ALFONSO MEN'S SALON > Los Angeles Daniel Alfonso Bowtie barber and customer