What do you imagine is unique to walk in and sit down inside a barbershop? Is it the employees, the other customers, the owner, the entertainment, etc? Well, Mickey J’s Barber & Beauty, a barber shop located in the Bronx, NY, has all those features and one more, professionalism. At 1833 Westchester Avenue, in the Parkchester section of the Bronx, Mickey J’s barber shop from the outside resembles any other local barbershop. However, inside the shop there is a different atmosphere evident from the very beginning. Something meaningful and moving greets you as sit down. Christmas songs playing on the television and later a Malcolm X documentary takes over which had many customers eyes fixed.
Mickey J’s Barber Shop is situated below the #6 train line between an auto insurance office and an Application Support Center. Amongst the few big businesses, most shops located on Westchester Ave are commercially owned by small business owners. There are mostly restaurant and office shops, and to name a few there are Spanish, Jamaican, American restaurants, grocery stores, deli’s, real estate office, hair supply shops, clothing stores, few barber shops, even a funeral home, and a host of other stores. So, it is clear, Westchester Avenue is an eclectic busy stretch of road that boasts neighborhood stores.
Nine years ago, Mickey J opened his barbershop as a sole proprietor. But, prior to opening Mickey J’s Barber & Beauty, Mickey J, the hairstylist born and raised in the island of Jamaica, had studied business management and attended Long Island Beauty School. In the early parts of the interview after talking with him on his major in business management, Mickey J admitted that, “running my own business is more like a challenge; the challenge is academically because you have to deal with people on a one-on-one basis as you interact with customer’s intelligence.” So though, he majored in business management, the salon business was the last thing on his mind while living in Jamaica. Until he arrived in the United States did he realize that “the key is survival and to survive I had to step back to move forward.”
Professionalism is the key to which Mickey J conducts the business of his barbershop. In the shop, signs with ‘no profanity’ rules and words of advice are posted on each station mirror. That was a unique observation as other nearby barber shops/hair salons did not have any kind of rules posted. One of his examples of being professional in the business is having customers greeted and attended to as they enter. Another example is having his employees always sanitizing their hands, at the station, before moving on to another customer. Though these things may seem small, Mickey J understands that they are very important to the business growth. Professionalism also extends to the clients who come into the barber shop. And a situation that was described involving general unprofessional customer behaviors is where customers sometimes request and have done a specific hairstyle that they know they may not afford. In Mickey J’s Barber & Beauty, the professional style when handling that type of situation is remaining calm and composing oneself while explaining to the customer that that type of behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated again. The customer service goes a long way as the barber shop caters to their many other hair and grooming needs by selling hair products, combs and brushes, and facial creams.
With six employees, including Mickey J, he stressed the importance of having his employees grow the business and be a positive representation of the business via the professionalism he instills in them. In addition, if any employee steps out of line and goes against the rules governing the business, they are spoken to in private about their actions immediately before having the same behavior repeated and spiraling out of control and negatively affecting the professionalism of the business. All the staff dressed appropriately and always greeted and briefly talked to any customer walking in. Open seven days, customers visits are usually based on appointments, with the exceptions of few walk-ins.
When challenges and issues come up in the business, it is vital, according to Mickey J, that the staff all come together to focus on the necessary parts of the business that would help it grow and expand. And one of those key necessities is of course, clients.
What sets Mickey J Barber & Beauty shop apart from competing barbershops/hair salon? Without sounding egotistical, Mickey J responded with, “Salons in the neighborhood were further away and heard of my settings and after coming in to see what things were like, they changed their floors, they put televisions up, and other similar things.” He quite bluntly states that he does not have any competition as he governs his business very professionally than other shops where you will find customers walking inside cursing and behaving in other unethical ways. This is an indication that the barber shop is respected and influential in a neighborhood where quite a few other barber shops/hair salons exist.
Mickey J accounts his spirituality and belief in God as the reason behind the profiting of his business. He goes in to add that, “Once you believe and have faith in everything that you do, God works miracles.” So though sometimes the business may experience slow days, Mickey J does not resort to giving up on his customers and employees, rather, he prays harder for the business to improve operations. Though figures were not disclosed, he reassured me of profits by simply stating, “This business is very profitable and bills are paid.”
The impact that this neighborhood barber shop has on the Parkchester community is both intimate and candid. A keen observation was made that showed how couple of regular clients walked in appearing unhappy and distanced. But while getting their hair done, Mickey J and his other employees would seriously be talking with the clients and sharing laughers. In the end, they got up from the chair looking happy and much more upbeat after the conversations. It becomes so much clearer how much the clients admire Mickey J and the entire staff and essentially, does not see them as only barbers but more so, as a support group that they know they can turn to in bad and good times.
Densil, the only hairstylist there that really caters to female cuts, notes that the atmosphere is “Pleasant and everyone is like family and gets along really well together. He went on to further explain that if hair is on the floor by a specific barber’s station, another barber who is not busy with a client or doing something else would clean it up. Interesting is that, gospel music is usually played every Saturday morning until twelve noon. That is known to get the employees blood flowing and get them in the right frame of mind and mood to do their jobs as professionally as possible. Densil also said that, “When a new person employee comes in, we try to show them the ropes of how things operate in this barber shop, especially if they are coming from one of those shops that are loud and disorganized.” While interviewing Densil he demonstrated much enthusiasm and motivation for his job and genuine smiles that were unrelated to the fact that he is being interviewed.
A pastor by the name of Mike, who has been a longtime customer of Mikey J for over thirty years, sat in the chair getting his hair done by Mickey J. As he sat in the chair he looked very comfortable and relaxed. For Pastor Mike, he finds key how well Mickey J sanitizes his equipment’s after he finishes with each customer. Pastor Mike son and grandson also come to this barber shop all the way from Long Island because of Mickey J’s loyalty and friendship shown to their father and grandfather and mostly because he experiences the same warm and comfortable atmosphere as Densil had described.
Nick, an employee working there for three years, admits that his customers motivate him the most. As Mickey J mentioned before, and Nick reiterates, that “just to give someone a haircut, you would be surprised what difference it makes…just for them to come in and chit-chat over a simple haircut. Further along, while sitting and leaning back Nick reminded me that the overall professionalism within the business really sets it apart from many others as well as the punctuality of himself and his co-workers being on time for each appointment. After talking with Nick, his customer of about ten years, Jovanni, walked in. Other than Nick, Jovani pointed to Mickey J as the reason why he keeps coming back. Jovani also mentioned that the quiet environment is key for him, though at times he finds it hard to always obey the ‘no profanity/cursing rules.’ Much like Pastor Mike, Jovani has a pretty good friendship with Nick. The third Mike in the shop, also a barber who has been working there for one year, and has known Mickey J for over twenty-five years, seriously said, “I know Mickey as a classy, clean, by the book guy.” He told me if I take a look at other barber shops/hair salons and compare it to Mickey J Barber & Beauty, that speaks for his motivation.” Mike thinks the rules posted up about no profanity language is telling of what kind of barbershop Mickey J is running and what kinds of people are willing to come in after seeing those signs. The family-oriented and professionalism themes are repeated in Mike’s remarks.
Mickey J’s Barber & Beauty thrives on the professionalism of its owner, staff, and customers. The business offers the neighborhood a unique and special experience that transcends to customers outside the neighborhood.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1TBtxKFryHlfTI7YQqOYZ1OXFC3R7NNN-HFuOK7CHEzg/edit?usp=sharing
