Second to None Barbershop Gives Clients First Class Cuts
FREDERICTON – Unable to find a local barber to cut his hair, Shane Snow took matters (and clippers and razors) into his own hands to open the Second to None barbershop.
“I always had a feel for cutting hair,” says Snow, who grew up going to barbershops and still goes to the same barber in Toronto he went to as a kid.
“When I moved to Fredericton, I could not get a haircut if my life depended on it, so I just stuck with Walmart clippers and buzzed my own hair until I realized that if I’m having this problem somebody else must be, and it’s probably more than just one person.”
Snow decided to leave his job and attend barber school. He graduated in April 2017 and officially opened up the barbershop in May 2017. From opening day on, Second to None has been incredibly busy as another of the city’s successful businesses.
“We started off with just appointments and walk-ins, and then we got to the point where we were getting so many walk-ins that we had to we had to shift to appointment-based only,” Snow recalled.
Although Snow grew up in Toronto he has been a proud Fredericton resident for the past 10 years. His mother had moved to Fredericton to work at Chalmers Hospital when Snow was in high school, and after coming down to visit her, “I just never went back.”
Snow found Fredericton to be very welcoming to his business and noted they have new clients every day.
“When we first opened the support from the city was tremendous, it’s crazy how much the people here would rather visit a small business, or a local business, than going to a chain store.”
Snow says the business plan he made for the company has been surpassed by at least two years.
Second to None currently employs five barbers, including Snow, and and has clients ranging in ages from a four- month-infant to a client in his nineties. Most of them are from 15 years to 40 years old.
Not only is he dedicated to providing great cuts for customers but Snow is also developing a course and education platform, just granted approval by the New Brunswick Barbers Association, teaching how to best cut and style men’s hair.
“The aim of the course, isn’t to teach how to cut men’s hair from start to finish, but to teach hairstylists that work at salons who do male cuts, yet feel they are not fulfilling their clients’ desires.”
“We are here to teach our steps and what we know, what keeps clients coming back to Second to None, while allowing people to still keep their clients,” Snow says.
“Once the course comes into effect, it’s going to open up so many more [opportunities] for us at Second to None.”