Matthew Forbes is having loads of fun being a barber. He’s now full-time, breaking even, attracting new customers, and having a ball at his Matthew’s Barbershop at 24 Macdonell St.
“It’s fantastic,” said Forbes, 50, who had a soft, part-time launch of the shop last October. He was nervous about his venture. But since it was his dream, and since he sunk all of his money into it, he pressed on.
“It turns out I love this,” he said Thursday, during an unexpected visit and interview. “I thought I would, I was pretty sure I would, and when you actually put it into practice and it turns out to be true, it’s extra great.”
You might recognize the location because of its storied barbering history. Legendary Trank Monico cut hair in the exact same space for 60 years, retiring last year.
It is like Forbes somehow embodied the old-world charm that was Monico’s legacy, and picked up where Trank left off. A number of Trank customers are coming back.
Monico left behind his sensational pair of orange barber chairs. When Matthew doesn’t have a customer’s hair to cut, he spends a fair bit of time lounging in one of those beauties, and maybe reflecting on just how good he’s got it.
Forbes quit a good, but perhaps joy-devouring job at Canada Post about a year ago. He cashed out his pension and went to hairstyle school, then sunk the pension money into the business. Within a few weeks of opening he was making a go of it.
Only moments into the interview, the front door flung open and in walked friends of the barber. That’s the way Forbes likes it.
“Not only do people come in for a haircut, they also just drop in for a visit,” he said.
That old world ‘drop by for a visit’ mentality is integral to the business, Forbes said, and it’s taking hold. Musicians are dropping in to play his guitars or bring in their own. Friends drop by for laughs.
“It’s what I’m trying to promote,” he said. “There’s free wi-fi, I have guitars, and I like to talk to people. You don’t have to need a haircut to drop by.”
Forbes also has a wall full of vintage hats, which people love to try on.
He takes one down to show his visitors. Inside the band there is a small hand-written card that reads something like, “I’m not yours, put me back.” Such notes were common in hats back in the day, when most men wore one and couldn’t tell them apart, Forbes explained.
Back in October, Forbes told GuelphToday.com that a stint working at The Common café on Wilson Street was the biggest break he ever got. It helped him understand who he was, and taught him that he really likes people, loves hearing their stories. He wanted a line of work that gave him those benefits.
Forbes smiles and laughs a lot. But there’s another part of his nature that is less obvious.
“I’m a catastrophist by nature,” he confessed. “I was sort of in that mode all the time anyway, so I just added the starting of a new career to that, and just floated along with that whole waiting for catastrophe thing.”
Catastrophe, however, has not befallen him.
“A lot of new people, and a lot of my friends are coming in,” he said. “And a lot of people are saying they’ll come back.”
Matthew’s Barbershop is closed Mondays, but open Tuesday to Sunday. Other than Sunday’s noon to 4 p.m. hours, all other days are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
