About Us
House of Shaves Barbershop was founded in Jacksonville, Florida in 2015. We started House of Shaves Barbershop because we wanted to provide a higher level of service than most barber shops offer. Unlike many corporate or franchise barber shops, House of Shaves is owned and operated by highly trained barbers who ensure each barber is trained to provide the highest level of service to each client. We work with clients who appreciate the extra time and attention to detail that is hard to find these days. We don't try to be everything to everybody, we specialize in haircuts, beard trims and shaves. Appointments are not required but are highly recommended so we can give you the time you deserve. Our mission is simple, to help our clients look their best.
Founded In 2015
About The Owner
Hey I’m Alex, thanks for checking our page. If you’re here it’s probably because you are doing research and looking for a new barbershop to call home, which is smart. You shouldn’t trust your look with just anyone. I used to do the same thing before I became a barber.
Inspiration Behind House of Shaves
Before I became a barber I was a stay at home dad taking care of my 2 kids and haircuts were not a priority to me. Ever since I moved out of my parent’s house I always tried to make it a point to go to barbershops. Growing up my parents would usually take me to a chain salon where they did quick and cheap haircuts or my mom would give me a bowl cut 🤦🏻♂️. As I got older I began to appreciate the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut more and more. When I moved to Jacksonville in 2009, I found my barber. I asked a friend where he gets his hair cut, got my hair cut by his barber and he became my barber too. Once I find someone who doesn’t mess up my hair I like to stick with them as long as possible. Although I’m nowhere near as picky with my own hair as I am with the haircuts our barbers and I do, I felt like my barber did a pretty good job. The problem however was with the business model.
Before Barber Life
Before I became a barber I was a stay at home dad taking care of my 2 kids and haircuts were not a priority to me. Ever since I went out on my own, I always tried to make it a point to go to barbershops. Growing up my parents would usually take me to a chain salon where they did quick and cheap haircuts or my mom would give me a bowl cut 🤦🏻♂️. As I got older I began to appreciate the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut more and more. When I moved to Jacksonville in 2009, I found my barber. I asked a friend where he gets his hair cut, got my hair cut by his barber and he became my barber too. Once I find someone who doesn’t mess up my hair I like to stick with them as long as possible. Although I’m nowhere near as picky with my own hair as I am with the haircuts our barbers and I do, I felt like my barber did a pretty good job. The problem however was with the business model.
The Problem With Most Barbershops
At the time, I was reading a lot of business books and going to college part-time at FSCJ. The weaknesses in the business model were becoming more and more obvious and frustrating to me. The barbershop I went to was a “booth rent” place where the barbers would play a flat fee to the owner weekly to use the station in their business and the barber is an independent contractor running their own business inside. While this idea works well on paper, in practice there are some major flaws which I found frustrating. The barbers in that barbershop came and left as they pleased, even if they had clients waiting on them! Because they were an independent contractor, the owner couldn’t legally make them stick to a schedule. So this means that sometimes I would show up to my appointment and my barber wasn’t even there or the shop wasn’t open at all! The barbers also charged all different prices and there was no standard for any of the services. One barber might charge $20 for just a haircut, and the barber right next to them would charge $20 for a haircut, beard trim and shave. If you go to one barber, the haircut might take 15 minutes and if you go to someone else the haircut takes and hour and a half. There was no online booking, so I had to either call or text my barber to get an appointment. I’m an introvert so I find this very unappealing 😂. Having an appointment was pretty much worthless because I’d get there and still have to wait an hour past my appointment time. So I started to get this idea that maybe I could do this better. At the time, the housing market had just crashed and I felt like my college degree in business was going to be useless. I decided that becoming a licensed professional was the only way to virtually guarantee that I would always have a job. So a few years later, I decided to become a barber and open my own barbershop. In 2013, I graduated barber school and went to work for another barbershop here in Jacksonville where I was able to learn the business form the inside. I had never run a business or even had a manager position in my entire life so I wanted to learn as much as possible. In November of 2015, I had the opportunity to take over a failing barber barbershop so we changed the name and House of Shaves Barbershop was born.
What Makes Us Different
House of Shaves Barbershop was created to solve the same issues I had growing up and going to barbershops. You shouldn’t have to text your barber for an appointment, wonder if they’re working today, or worry about if you’re being charged more than the guy next to you for the same thing. We open and close according to the hours on our website. We never close without notice with the exception of personal emergencies. We believe that you also shouldn’t have to be in the barbershop any longer than you need to.
At House of Shaves Barbershop, there are multiple ways to book an appointment with us so you can skip the wait. Our services and prices are standardized so you know what your service will cost, how long it could take, and what’s included in that service so there are no surprises. Unlike many barbershops, each barber is personally trained by a master barber so that you can feel comfortable going to any barber. We also try to find and retain only the best barbers. We pay our barbers really well and offer other benefits to keep them around as long as possible. Our barbers are paid hourly so there is no incentive to rush through your haircut or compete with the barbers around them. We have other perks like:
Free beer and soft drinks
Amazing hair and beard care products that will help improve the health of your hair and skin
And much more
Having some of the best barbers in town and offering all of these perks are expensive which is why we’re not the cheapest barbershop in Jacksonville. Our goal is to make you feel like you got an amazing value by visiting us, no matter how much you paid. We’re a small business that’s always looking for ways to add more value for our clients so there will be many more perks added in the future. We’re not a franchise or chain so we can (and usually do) make a lot of changes (and mistakes). Because we’re not a big corporate chain, our focus is on making clients happy so that they come back and tell their friends about us instead of the cut your hair as fast as possible model that most chains have. We usually spend about twice the amount of time that most franchise salons on your service to make sure it’s as close to perfect as possible. If you’re ready to give us a shot, use the link below to schedule or call us to set up an appointment.
November 2015 - Our Original Opened
Located on Bowden road, this is where we started out. The barbershop was called Barbershop on Bowden, the name was changed before opening. The name House of Shaves was chosen because we wanted to communicate to clients that we were one of the few barbershop left that offered old-fashioned hot towel straight razor shaves.
2017 - Moved To Southside Blvd
In 2016, our lease ended on Bowden Rd and we searched for a new home. We found a small space available on Southside Blvd where we still are to this day.
2020 - Riverside Location Opens
In December of 2020, we opened our second location off of Riverside Ave in the Brooklyn area of Jacksonville.
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