Family Owned & Operated Barber Shop and Parking Lot
Husband & Wife Barbers Still Cutting-Up Together After 30 Years
Bernie & Carol Smith opened the Hairsmiths Barbershop February 4, 1981, and celebrated their 30th year in business at their 1500 Spring Road location last February with lots of cake and cookies. The husband and wife team are both licensed barbers and work side by side in their garage turned black & white tiled barbershop, attached to their Carlisle home.
The high school sweethearts were married in 1973 and opened the barbershop in 1981 with the dream of being their own bosses and staying home to raise their two small children. And although Bernie often refers to Carol as "the boss," they have spent the last 30 years living that dream. The couple worked in the barbershop while their pre-school daughters played in the next room. When the girls were old enough for school, Carol was available to walk them to school each morning. When their children went off to high school Bernie was always home to greet the girls when they got off the school bus. Now, as grandparents, the cycle is starting again.
During the business' early years, Bernie took a job at the neighboring Getty gas station to pay the mortgage while the couple worked to build their customer base. It wasn't long before news of the couple's friendly greetings, great haircuts and reasonable prices spread & business began to thrive. Over the years, many customers have become like an extended family. Bernie has traveled to the homes of customers who can no longer drive, and has ventured into the back room of numerous Carlisle funeral homes to make sure his clients will always look their best. Carol has opened the shop early to fix clients' at-home color disasters and brought customers in on her day off to make sure they look their best for an unexpected out-of-town funeral.
The Smiths' concern for their customers doesn't stop with a haircut, it also extends to their pocketbook. When the economy began to decline, the Hairsmiths decided to keep their prices the same, despite higher utility costs and a slight decrease in business. Bernie still charges $10 for a regular haircut, the same price he's been charging since 2007.
The shop is open Tuesday to Friday 9am- 7pm and Saturday 8am-noon, by appointment only. The Hairsmiths is located at 1500 Spring Road, at the corner of K Street, across from the Fairgrounds Gate 3 and their phone number is 717-243-0732.
