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Creating community at the barbershop
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From the outside, Bad Company Barbers, at 4505 Central NW, looks like a stucco house, with turquoise wall sconces and a large metal door.
But inside is a modern barbershop with shiny black floors marbled with green, bright green workstations, low-backed couches in the middle of the room, hexagon light fixtures overhead, and a turf wall with the neon Bad Company Barbers logo.
The contemporary d茅cor has a traditional purpose: create a space where customers can chat with each other, chat with their barbers, and enjoy the community that comes with an old school barbershop.
For a barber, the best part of a haircut is when a customer sees their new look in the mirror and their face lights up, said shop owners Miguel Ordo帽ez, 31, and Jos茅 Lopez, 29.
鈥淵ou revive them again. You make their day,鈥� Lopez said.
Ordo帽ez didn鈥檛 plan to become a barber. He was a little lost after finishing his military service, and his sister suggested he go to barber school so he could at least have a stable side hustle. Ordo帽ez loved the work, and instead of a side hustle, he found a career.
Unlike Ordo帽ez, Lopez has always loved the art of hair cutting. He鈥檚 worked as a professional barber for six years.
The turf accent wall reflects their backgrounds. After his Army service, green is still Ordo帽ez鈥檚 favorite color. And if being a barber weren鈥檛 enough work, Lopez is also a landscaper.
The pair met working in a barbershop, and when the shop owners decided to sell the location, the two men took on the business. The space was cramped with cords running everywhere, but Lopez and Ordo帽ez saw the opportunity to create a business of their own. Lopez purchased the business first and called it Studio 21, then brought on Ordo帽ez as co-owner.
鈥淪tarting off, you can never imagine owning your own shop. It鈥檚 hard to imagine owning your own shop because it鈥檚 not easy, but all of a sudden, things start coming into place like Tetris,鈥� Lopez said.
Next door, Dolores Silva was considering retirement. In 1980, Silva opened Dee鈥檚 Hair Design in Old Town. She relocated the business to Central in 2006 and had served many customers for many years. She was getting ready to retire and gave the building to her son.
Silva noticed the young barbers next door, operating out of a 350-square-foot shop, so she called up Ordo帽ez and asked him to come by.
鈥淎t first I thought it was a scam,鈥� he said.
But Silva just wanted to give some promising young entrepreneurs a boost, the way she鈥檇 gotten help when she started her own business. Silva didn鈥檛 have a lot of money to open Dee鈥檚 Hair Design, but a signature loan gave her the capital she needed.
鈥淚 talked to these two young men who were next door, and said, 鈥榶ou have such a small shop,鈥� and they said, 鈥榯his was all we could afford,鈥欌�� Silva said.
She talked her son into offering the 1,000 square-foot space for the same rent as the smaller shop.
鈥淲e need to help one another 鈥� I really believe that 鈥� if we want the young people to come up,鈥� Silva said.
After securing a new, larger space, Ordo帽ez and Lopez still had to remodel it from a hair salon with parquet floors and a long row of hair dryers 鈥� a space designed to give customers a sense of privacy and sophistication 鈥� into something that would feel young and hip. They spent six months working at their first barbershop, then going to the new spot to work on the remodel.
鈥淚t was very long days,鈥� Ordo帽ez said. 鈥淪ometimes we used to stay up until 12 o鈥檆lock at night or 1 o鈥檆lock in the morning and had to come still cut hair the next day. It was hard.鈥�
The original shop was open for a year and half, said Ordo帽ez, but in July the barbers were finally able to open their newly renovated space, a spot that feels as cool and hip as it is inviting. With the new shop, Lopez and Ordo帽ez rebranded with a name they chose together: Bad Company Barbers.
The barbershop is family oriented and open seven days a week.
鈥淢oms can bring their kids, dads can bring their kids, or a whole family can come in and it鈥檚 going to be a respectful setting the whole time. There鈥檚 not going to be any cusswords. It鈥檚 going to be very professional,鈥� Ordo帽ez said.
Customers can schedule appointments online with one of the shop鈥檚 five barbers or walk in to the shop.
