Stepping into Christos Kaskamanidis’ Arbutus Ridge barbershop is like stepping back in time.
While the shop’s décor could be described as more eclectic than out of date — his daughter’s paintings, dozens of age-worn photographs of boys getting their first hair cuts and images Kaskamanidis simply finds appealing, such as a large paper strawberry adorn the bright yellow walls — it’s his character that’s reminiscent of an earlier time when getting a hair cut was like visiting a friend.
Kaskamanidis’ Mackenzie Heights Barber Shop is squeezed between a tailor and an architect’s consulting office in this affluent, mostly residential Vancouver community. It’s a part of town where paid gardeners lean on rakes chatting as they break from tending well-manicured lawns on tree-lined streets.
According to Kaskamanidis, only about one per cent of his customers are from his homeland of Greece. Most are white and many are well off, but he cuts the hair of all kinds of people from age two to more than 90 years old. He cites former B.C. premier Mike Harcourt and former deputy premier Colin Hansen as clients.
Hansen said he goes for the neighbourhood feel.
"They attract the moms bringing in a child for the first haircut, the teenager who looks like he hasn't seen a barber in a year, the corporate executive who has to look sharp and the senior who only has two hairs left. This is where they all meet and Chris makes them all feel and look great," he told the Courier by email.
When the Courier paid the shop a visit earlier this week, Kaskamanidis sat in his barber chair awaiting the next customer.
He bounced his crossed leg in time to the classical music coming from his tiny red radio. For the 16 years he has been at this location, music has welcomed his clients. Kaskamanidis, 75, is a musician and often plays his accordion in the shop.
“Many of the customers they say, we don’t come only for the hair cut, we come for the music too,” he said.
Laurence Malley has patronized Kaskamanidis for 10 years. Even though Malley moved out of the area, he travels back to get his hair cut and beard trimmed.
"It is an old-school barbershop that reminds me a lot of when I used to be a kid in the ’50s,” said Malley.
Kaskamanidis brought his wife and four young children to Vancouver in June 1973.
“It was raining for two weeks. My wife said let’s go back,” he recalled.
They stuck it out, but Kaskamanidis recalls how tough it was to make a living because the trend in the 1970s was for long hair on men. When he started, a cut cost $2.75, today he charges $13.
“Barbers then were starving,” he said.
He worked nights as a taxi driver for several years to make ends meet. Not an easy gig for a new immigrant who didn't know the streets or the language.
"My goodness, I had some horrible days with that," he said, adding he still has nightmares about crooks who tried to take advantage of his ignorance by cheating him of his fare.
One night he chased a thief and was slashed with a knife. When he arrived home bleeding, his wife almost fainted, he said.
Kaskamanidis was eventually able to set up shop at his current location and leave his taxi behind. The best part of his job is getting to know customers, some of whom he has known since their first cut. Now he cuts their children’s hair.
The hardest part of his job is when a customer dies. Often the wife will come by to let him know.
“That is sad,” he said. “But that is life.”
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This story has been modified since it was first posted.
