Harlem Barber Shop Takes a Step Up, as Economy Falls

The current decline in the economy has clothing boutiques, shoe repair shops, and “mom and pops’ ” restaurants below water.  However, at one Harlem barber shop, A Step Above, owner Sharron Corley is still cutting hair at the same rate as when he opened his business two years ago.

“Everybody needs to look right. You know professionals they want to look right.  That’s not something that you sacrifice.  You know when you’re working, you have to look right, you have to be groomed,” Corley explains.

Photo Courtesy of Sharron Corley

Barber shops and hair salons may be one of the few businesses remaining unaffected.  People are making sacrifices in their lives, but the maintenance of their appearances is not one of them. Corley has been able to operate his business alone in his fourth floor apartment.  His business is a private practice and new clients can only come from word of mouth.  Along with his business he also runs a non-profit, East Modulate Entertainment, that is being affected by the economy due to lack of funding.  Soon, Corley will be forced to make a choice on his best options for survival.

After moving to Harlem from Brooklyn, Corley started working at a number of barber shops.  He first started at Levels and then after a year and a half he moved to Big Russ where he remained for about the same time.  The opportunity soon arose for Corley to manage a friend’s unisex salon, The Best of Both Worlds.  But, that salon didn’t last very long.

“It had nothing to do with she and I.  She didn’t run her business well.  It didn’t affect me.  I was making my money, but she just wasn’t making her money,” he says.

Following the closing of The Best of Both Worlds, Corley went back to Big Russ barber shop where business was going well.  He continued to maintain his client base and promoted further by putting up fliers.  His relationship with the owner of The Best of Both Worlds remained positive and another opportunity arose for co-ownership of another business.

“She had this building available and I came to live here.  I was here for a year and the (other) space became available and so I decided to turn that to a shop,” he says.

Corley shared this plan with the building owner.  She embraced it and offered to join him in operating the business serving male and female clientele.  With the use of old equipment from her former business their joint shop was easy to start.
But, once again the partnership didn’t work out due to disagreements in their management styles.

Explaining the conversation that took place with his business partner, Corley says he told her, “I’m going to relinquish the space, you can keep your space and do what you want over there and I’m going to practice in my space.”  She agreed and they went their separate ways.

Around the same time that Corley separated his part of the business (in his apartment) he acquired a near half a century old barber chair. “A good friend of mine, who had a good friend that did some music for The Beetles, had this chair in his storage space.  He basically wanted to get rid of it and he told my friend (who was one of my clients) to tell me to jump on it,” Corley says.

“I was blessed with a chair and it was just convenience.  It worked out,” he adds.

Photo Courtesy of Sharron Corley

Corley’s business officially opened in 2007.  With the steady following of his clientele base from his former barber shops of employment, he found it easy to make a transition.  Clients weren’t forced to travel far. Before they were going to West 133rd Street and now all they had to do was travel four blocks further uptown to West 137th Street.  Running the barber shop in his fourth floor brownstone was how he originated the shop’s name, A Step Above.

But, with the launch of the shop Corley never took the steps to actually legalize the business with the required permits set in New York.  He does have a current and legitimate barber’s license that he renews every two years that enables him to practice as a master barber.

Corley explains his reasons for not legalizing and growing his business further because, “there’s a lot of time, and energy and management associated in running a barber shop.  You can’t really do too many other things.  I needed to reserve my time to be more mobile.”

Corley remains mobile with his non-profit organization, East Modulate Entertainment, which works with the Harlem youth community in providing mentors and support through various programs and conferences.  In Corley’s own youth he did work as an actor in such national released films as, New Jersey Drive, The Substitute, and various television show appearances.

“At some point I wasn’t being hired and I found myself doing all sorts of other things like market management. I was making money, but I wasn’t doing that (in regards to acting).  I had a lot of opportunities but it just didn’t crack.  But, I didn’t take rejection well.  I guess I didn’t want to take the negatives anymore,” explains Corley.

Working as a barber proved more satisfying, in that his customers are usually content with his performance.
“For me it’s like a service.  If you want to step out and feel good about yourself on the inside, you come to see me.  When you come out of my chair you’re feeling yourself.  That’s the service you get,” he says.

The environment Corley has set up is different from that of the barbershops where he once worked. “You eliminate a speed game, one, you eliminate lines and unwanted company.  That energy, its quality. It’s a different level,” Corley says.
He goes as far as offering appointments to clients outside of the typical nine to five business hours.  This flexibility has generated more clients for him.

Upon reaching the fourth floor at, A Step Above, Corley offers clients a beverage and if they smoke cigarettes he has no qualms in letting them do so.  Once ready they proceed to the white porcelain chair positioned in the corner of his living room.  Along with the buzzing of the hair clippers clients can listen to music at their choosing, watch movies or daily politics on C-SPAN and engage in open conversations ranging from religion to the unseasonal temperatures of the day.

Corley appreciates his customers’ loyalty to him and offers them free haircuts on their birthdays. His longest serving clients have been coming to him for more than three years. “I have a range of clients: professionals, executives in the music industry, reverends and artist,” says Corley.

His overall customer base is consistent and for the most part he has only lost clients due to their moves from the city.  With the recession having little to no effect on Corley’s business, the only change he notices comes with the change in weather.

“With the change in the season it (business) migrates.  When it’s cold, people put hats back on and it begins to decline.  Summer months and Spring it builds up.  But, my business has remained pretty consistent, “Corley explains.

He estimates that about eighty percent of his income is from his barber shop.  The remainder is generated from his non-profit, E.M.E. (East Modulate Entertainment) and the events that are organized.  Another portion comes from residual checks that he earns from his films and past television show appearances.

Corley does admit that approximately fifteen percent of his clients are possibly being affected by the economic changes.  The young clientele with part-time jobs are now coming in two times a month, whereas before they would get a haircut once a week.  Corley has consistently charged between, $10-$40/haircut.  Services offered are line ups, haircuts, and facial hair cuts.  On top of the fees for the haircuts, he also averages $5-$10 in tips/client.

A Step Above is surviving and Corley is content. “I’m not complaining. God is good,” he says.

Unfortunately not doing so well is Corley’s non-profit, East Modulate Entertainment. “Because of the economy now, people aren’t donating a lot of funds to non-profits.  So that has affected how I am focusing on generating income,” he explains.

Currently at a crossroads, Corley is given his non-profit until this summer to show improvement or he will be forced to consider other options.  EME may be forced to end its services and Corley will have to expand his barber shop.

“I would probably do a loft or something like that.  I can advertise.  It would be legal. Somewhere I can consolidate my cost where I can still live in the space.  My living expense would also be my business expenses, but I would live separate,” he says.

A Step Above would finally be a legal business with the employment of other barbers and hair stylists.
Corley’s faith in God leaves him confident that he can and will reach his goals as long as he continues to help others.  Whether he is mentoring the youth of Harlem or cutting a young man’s hair for his senior prom; he is gaining personal fulfillment in his life.

“I attribute all my blessings to the “supreme being “and ultimately I feel I will be blessed by being a blessing.  That’s how I look at my existence, by providing service to people.”