With two stations set up in front of gleaming mirrors, 20-year-old Brett Stauffeneker is set up and ready for business.
The Fade Away Barber Shop, located in the School Yard on Turnpike Road in New Ipswich, officially opened for business on Nov. 7. For Stauffeneker, a New Ipswich native and Mascenic Regional High School graduate, it’s his first foray into the world of business.
After graduating from high school, Stauffeneker said, he was working in construction when his father came home and told him, “Brett, I have the perfect job for you. You should be a barber.”
Stauffeneker said he laughed the idea off at first – he’d never even considered a career cutting hair.
“He probably thought that because I like getting my own hair cut so much,” Stauffeneker said, adding he would have a standing appointment for a clean-up every two weeks, and likes cutting designs into the short buzz on his sides.
But the more he gave it some thought, Stauffeneker said, the more the idea appealed to him. So much so that he began to explore some programs, including visiting Empire Beauty School of New Hampshire in Hooksett, where he got a free haircut from a student barber, and got the opportunity to discuss the program with him.
“By the time I got up, I knew I wanted to give it a shot,” he said.
After graduating from Empire, Stauffeneker worked for a few months at Escape Salon in New Ipswich, wanting to get some experience under his belt before opening his own shop. But he said he had his eye on a space at the School Yard, a set of offices that have been recently installed at the former Central Elementary School, from the beginning.
“It’s a perfect location. Everyone drives by it,” he said.
Specifically, Stauffeneker said, he was interested in opening a barber’s shop, not a salon.
Barbers, Stauffeneker said, have a more in-depth knowledge of men’s haircuts, and are licensed to use a straight razor to give shaves. While he can and does cut women’s hair, he doesn’t provide services like coloring and perms.
“It’s just a different atmosphere and a different experience,” he said.
For now, Stauffeneker will be running his shop by himself, but said he hopes to build up a strong enough customer base to be able to hire at least a second barber. Interest has been brisk, he said, even before he officially opened his doors for his first week.
Fade Away Barber Shop is now accepting both appointments and walk-ins. To make an appointment, call or text 491-4032.