By Steve Huffman
Salisbury Post
EAST SPENCER ó It’s late Thursday afternoon and at Jones Barber Shop, things are hopping.
Of course, that’s more the norm than the exception.
After all, it’s a rare day when the shop’s four barber chairs aren’t full, with plenty more customers waiting for a fade, a shape up or some other type of trim.
“I’ve got the best business in town,” says John E. Jones, the shop’s owner.
Not just the best, also the most enthusiastic. Conver-sation inside the shop buzzes like a hive of bees in the midst of a summer swarm.
A few minutes spent inside the shop at 811 N. Long St. proves as much.
“Come on, baby,” Willie McCree, the shop’s most veteran barber and its manager, says to his umpteenth customer of the day.
The client, a 20-some-year-old wearing blue jeans and boots, climbs into the barber chair as McCree wraps a cape around him.
“How low you want it cut?” McCree asks.
The customer answers, but his reply is all but drowned out by the conversation that’s transpiring around him.
McCree, standing immediately behind the young man, leans close to hear the words, then nods and goes quickly to work with his clippers.
In minutes, the customer is wearing a neat new haircut, resembling greatly a model who just stepped from the pages of a men’s magazine.
“How you like that, baby?” McCree asks, holding a mirror so that the young man might admire the finished product from all angles.
The customer nods, then climbs from the chair. A few dollars are exchanged.
On the way out, the young man bumps fists with all of the shop’s barbers as well as several of the waiting customers.
“Be strong,” someone advises.
It’s a camaraderie reminiscent of a group of men bound by athletics or military service, not the type typically found in a place of business.
McCree watches as his customer makes his way from the shop, then turns to the others who are sitting and waiting.
“You next, baby?” he asks, motioning to another young man.
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Jones Barber Shop has been around since 1996, situated close to Long Street’s intersection with Jefferson Street. Jones says he can remember a time 30 or so years ago when the only barbershop around Salisbury that catered to blacks was a place where profanity and liquor were as common as scissors and razors.
When Jones opened his business, he vowed the establishment would be different.
“I was going to have a decent place,” Jones says. “No cussing, no drinking.”
He’s stuck to his promise and his shop has flourished.
McCree, Jones’ son-in-law, has been with him from the get-go. The establishment’s other three barbers are also long-time employees.
Odell Scott ó the assistant manager who works out of the chair immediately to McCree’s left ó has been there 10 years. Michael Walker ó an eight-year employee ó works the next chair.
Newcomer Wayne Stewart commands the chair near the shop’s front door. He’s been there five years.
Jones, the owner, has done a little bit of everything in his life ó builder, minister … you name it.
“I’m a full-time pastor,” Jones says. “And I’m a jack-leg carpenter on the side.”
At 73, Jones, says he’s built numerous houses and even a few churches in and around Rowan County. He’s also worked as a preacher for 54 years, the last 33 at United Baptist Church in Kannapolis.
Jones served as an alderman on the East Spencer Town Board for 12 years. But one of the few things he’s never done for money is cut hair.
“I’ve cut plenty of hair in my life,” Jones says. “I’ve just never gotten paid for it.”
He owns the building where his shop is located. The facility has undergone a slew of work of late.
For years, the barbershop filled one half of the building, while the rest was divided into apartments.
Over the past few months, Jones has renovated the structure, getting rid of the apartments and expanding the barbershop.
Within a few weeks, he’ll add four barbers and a pair of hairdressers. And they’re needed.
“We’ve had customers wait three hours to get a haircut,” Jones says. “There’s no sense in that.”
Also, soon, the business will cater to women.
“We’ve had some women come in ever since we opened,” Jones says. “But before now, we never had a place for curlers.”
Jones laughs when asked if he’s excited about the expansion.
“Yeah,” he says, “but now I’m broke. I’ve spent all this money. I’ve got to figure out a way to get some of it back.”
As he speaks, Jones cuts his eyes, making it clear that not everything he’s saying should be taken at face value.
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At Jones Barber Shop, a haircut goes for $10 while a fade is $12. A “shape up” is $8.
Since the shop opened, its official hours have been 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7 a.m.-6 p.m. on Fridays and 6 a.m.-3 p.m. on Saturdays.
But Scott, that second-longest serving barber, says those hours are just guidelines. He’s always at the shop by 5 a.m. on Saturdays and says he can’t remember the last time he didn’t have customers waiting for him, often on the front porch.
Scott and the shop’s other barbers say it’s not unusual for them to work until 8 or 9 at night.
Once the shop is expanded, it’ll be open six days a week, Wednesday no longer being a day of rest.
On this particular Thursday, a man sticks his head in the door and inquires as to how long a wait he should expect.
“How many you got?” the man asks Stewart, the barber closest to the door.
Stewart motions toward a handful of waiting customers and shrugs. The man then asks Walker, the next barber in line. The answer is much the same. Finally, Scott, the third barber in line, tells the man, “You’re next.”
Quickly, the customer returns to his car and fetches his 1-year-old son.
Scott puts a board across the seat of his barber chair and places the child on top. His pacifier never budges.
“What’s up?” Scott asks the toddler, who responds by clamping down tighter on his pacifier.
Scott turns to the child’s father.
“We’re going low, ain’t we?” he asks. “Low,” Scott says, translates to “short.”
The boy’s father responds affirmatively. Scott marvels aloud at how well behaved the child is.
“He’s a great customer,” Scott says, “better than some men.”
When the boy’s haircut is through, Scott looks the child in the eye and smiles.
“You’re the man,” he says. “You know that?”
Scott hands the boy a lollipop.”We give rewards,” Scott says and laughs.
Before long, a Dallas Cowboys fan saunters in and Scott, who has cut the man’s hair for years, can’t help but unleash some good-natured kidding.”You don’t have to worry about Cowboy fans these days,” he says. “They don’t speak when their team loses.”
Then Scott motions to his customer and makes mention of the Cowboys’ loss in the NFL playoffs.
“This cat,” he says, “he didn’t sleep for three days after the game.”
His client corrects him.
“It was longer than that,” he says, “I still ain’t sleeping.”
McCree, the senior barber, observes it all and smiles.
“A barbershop is man’s country,” he says. “Some are going to tell lies and some are going to tell the truth. That’s just the way it goes.”
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Contact Steve Huffman at 704-797-4222 or shuffman@ salisburypost.com.