Hip, new barber shop opens downtown

A new barber shop has opened in downtown Detroit. Beyond the haircuts, Standard Barber Company also offers straight razor shaves, beard trims, and shoe shines. The company focuses on "hip and cool" haircuts for men, something that was missing from downtown, according to co-founder Matt Charette Temkin.

The barber shop has a clubhouse feel to it as Temkin mentions bourbon and catching a game as part of the experience. Temkin's great grandfather, Joseph Charette, opened his own barber shop in the Delray neighborhood in 1915, eventually moving it to Brightmoor where it was in operation until the 1960s.

Temkin, who lives in New York, got the idea to open his own barber shop while visiting eventual co-founder Steve Economy on a trip home. The pair both grew up in Farmington. Economy, who lives downtown, was showing Temkin around when Temkin learned that Economy drove all the way to the suburbs to get his haircut. The idea for Standard Barber Company was soon crafted.

"It's great to have all these businesses moving downtown, all these people moving down here," says Temkin. "But what makes it a desirable place to live are the daytime services that everyone needs."

Discouraged after looking at over 50 spaces downtown and not finding a single match, the pair stopped in the Greenwich Times pub. It was there over beers that the duo got to talking to the bartender, who then called out her brother, the owner of the building. They were soon led upstairs and found their space at 138 Cadillac Square. Since the business takes up the second floor of a building that is wedge- or flat iron-shaped, the shop is surrounded by windows.

The company is looking to hire more barbers to stand behind their three chairs. The current group is lead by Head Barber David Herrera, who the business found after conducting over 100 interviews this last summer.

Source: Matt Charette Temkin, co-founder of Standard Barber Company
Writer: MJ Galbraith

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