Friday, October 11, 2024
When Sue Wilhite and a group of beauticians and barbers from Curt’s Barbershop decided to move from their long established downtown building to a smaller newly renovated shop on New London’s north side, 10 years ago, they didn’t know what to expect.
Wilhite who began her career as a hairstylist in 1983 had joined the staff at Curt’s in 2006 and worked there for eight years.
Louise Kabe, now retired, had started at Curt’s right out of school in 1979 and she became a fixture at 201 S. Pearl St.
She was one of the first female barbers in New London at the time, recalls Marilyn Sommer.
“She was very good, and people liked her,” said Sommer.
Karin Ison started her career with Curt and Marilyn Sommer in 1990.
Marilyn calls the old location at 201 S. Pearl the “big shop.”
She ran a beauty shop on one side and Curt ran the barbershop on the other.
Prior to that, he had worked across the parking lot out of Riverview Barbers.
The couple has been married for 65 years.
They had the barber and beauty shop together for just over 42 years when they retired in 2008.
Curt rented the building to the “girls” until he sold it to the city.
“We rented the building from the city and each year it was getting less and less busy,” said Wilhite.
Nothing outside, other than the old-fashioned barber pole stood out as far as curbside appeal, the fixtures were old and getting older, and the customer base wasn’t growing, she said.
New beginnings
“My husband Donald saw this place for rent (810 N. Shawano St.) and he encouraged me to look at it,” said Wilhite.
“At first I didn’t want to do it,” she said.
“I owned a small business before we moved here, I’ve had the headaches and experienced the heartache. I didn’t want anything to do with it.
But my husband has a very good vision and he was my motivator,” said Wilhite.
“I took out a small business loan to renovate the building.
There was a lot of demolition involved and the owner was a bit surprised when he saw it finished”, said Wilhite.
“He’s been great to us the whole time.”
Her husband, a good friend and her boys did the majority of the work.
They salvaged as much as possible from the historic Curt’s Barber and Beauty shop and modified it to fit the new, much smaller building.
The five barber chairs ranging in age from 1965, to the 1980s, have all been reupholstered, the cabinets from the beauty shop have been cut down to size and the mirrors delicately placed.
“It’s small. I kind of regret not making it a little bigger. I wish I would have added on,” said Wilhite.
Ellen Hackbarth, a stylist in the back corner of the shop chimed in.
“It’s not small. It’s cozy,” said Hackbarth.
Wilhite smiled.
Pausing to take in the surroundings, almost as if she were a customer herself waiting on the long padded bench.
“I hope it’s a barbershop forever and ever,” she said.
The last 10 years have gone by fast.
Sue said she would like to retire in the next year or two and pass the torch to the girls.
“I do a lot of the ordering and stuff like that, but I’m not their boss. They’re their own bosses. We work as a team and come up with everybody’s hours as a team so we make sure the coverage is there for the hours that we’re open,” said Wilhite.
“It’s about keeping it going for the next generation.”
Anniversary weekend
The shop will hold an open house and 10-year anniversary celebration with giveaways and refreshments from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday, Oct. 12.
Weekday hours are from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tues.-Wed 8 a.m. to 6p.m. mondays through Wednesdays and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays.
Wilhite said the new location made a huge difference in terms of accessibility and visibility. It’s been helpful in building up a new walk-in customer base, while tailoring to the legacy customers that now find access to the chair easier than the old location.
