Business Focus: More than a barber shop

Call it a barber establishment, but think of it as style with substance.

That’s what to expect when Gussie O’Connor, owner of the 3-year-old Coeur d’Alene business, the Gentlemen’s Quarters, takes to her client’s hair with sheers in hand and a no-nonsense approach to discussing topics of life, politics, sports, cars or whatever else the day brings up.

In fact, upon entering her barbershop establishment just off Northwest Boulevard on the first floor of the Harbor Plaza, a strictly enforced sign greets all customers: “Political correctness is not spoken here… Be yourself, bring your humor or do not enter.”

“It’s the establishment that your father and grandfather used to go to; it was the gathering place for men,” said O’Connor, a Boise native who moved to North Idaho after having been in the barber business in the capital for 17 years.

Though O’Connor’s been licensed for 21 years, she got her start 30 years ago as a hobby cutting her then-husband’s hair. Within a few years, she said, her clientele grew from family-only to family friends and beyond, all the while using a style that’s seen a downward spiral since electric clippers hit the market.

After 10 years as an unlicensed barber, O’Connor decided to attend a barber college and turned her hobby into her profession.

“It’s becoming a dying profession,” she said. “A lot of it has to do with old-fashioned training – free-handed taper cuts and no clippers.”

In her narrow space along the two-story strip of businesses, O’Connor prides herself on knowing and carrying on the history of her art (for example, she offered, the term barber has its roots in the Latin word for the beard, barba).

She sticks to the tonsorial traditions passed down from the barbershops of old, with quality service, dependability, a fair price and a smile, she said. She offers a $16 cut that includes a shoulder massage or a $21 father-son special.

Unlike the in-and-out appointments of other businesses in the same vein, O’Connor’s customers are encouraged to converse as she works or while in the waiting area. “This is a place where you can talk about almost anything, within reason,” O’Connor said. Bill Sever has been a regular to Gentlemen’s Quarters since he met O’Connor several years ago through Powertipps, a local group whose member’s represent various business industries in North Idaho and support each other with referrals and networking.

“We do business with the people we trust and appreciate. She’s a person I trust and appreciate,” Sever said. “She’s up on the topics of the day. (O’Connor’s business) reminds me of the old barbershops I’d go to when I was younger.”

Besides the usual, everyday chitchat, O’Connor’s also had a long-standing tradition of encouraging folks to do what makes them happy, going back to when Gentlemen’s Quarters was still in Boise. O’Connor’s walls are lined with pictures of well wishes and thank yous from past and current clients, including Greg Poe, a professional air show pilot based in Boise who’s smiling at the camera as his airplane flies vertical to the mountains and clouds in the background.

O’Connor recalled the time Poe took her up in his airplane: “I told him, ‘If you don’t make this your life’s career, you’ll be sorry’,” she said. “When your life’s work brings your heart joy, the world will come to you.”

Though O’Connor’s advice was one of many people who voiced their support, “I knew she was right,” said Poe, owner of Greg Poe’s Airshow’s Inc., which performs about 25 shows every year across the U.S.

Since her choice to move to the Lake City, business by referral and word of mouth has kept a steady beat of customers coming through the doors. “My business after three years is almost as busy as my business after 17 years in Boise.” But, she added, “Ultimately, my haircut is my billboard.”