DI residents open island's first barber shop

Over the years as residents of Daniel Island, Glenn Raus and Michael Cole noticed that the island was lacking something—a barber shop. Together and with no experience in the industry, they decided to take matters into their own hands.

“We just decided to jump into this,” said Cole. “Neither of us has a barber’s license. I’ve been cutting my own hair for 10 years.”

Last weekend, they opened the Daniel Island Barber Shop - and they are confident the new establishment will be a cut above the rest.

One of the first tasks they had to complete, in accordance with state law, was to find and hire a licensed barber to be their manager, added Cole. With his connections with the Daniel Island Rotary Club, he was eventually put in touch with Michael Pringle, a master licensed barber, stylist and platform artist who opened his own salon at just 18 years-old.

“He’s a very neat guy,” said Cole. “He has a business degree from the College of Charleston as well, so he was primed for an opportunity like this. He’s lived overseas in Korea for several years where he taught English and cut hair. We’re really proud to have him as our manager. He is a phenomenal professional, a great personality, a great teacher and it’s really going to bring a lot of life to this shop.”

With a lot of hard work, three years after the idea began to take shape their vision has become a reality. The new shop is located in Suite B of the retail space at Simmons Park Apartments on River Landing Drive.

The Daniel Island Barber Shop welcomed customers for the first time last Saturday, July 15, for a soft-opening.

“We have an official grand opening scheduled for July 29. Mayor Tecklenburg has agreed to come out and speak and help us cut the ribbon.”

Cole added that the grand opening will have a barbershop quartet performance and other fun.

“We’re looking into probably doing some more fun things like getting an old timey popcorn machine and some stuff like that,” said Cole. “We just want to make it a very down-home kind of feel as we get our business formally kicked off.”

Raus, who also owns the Japan Karate Institute on the island, explained that by opening the shop, they hope to strengthen the community.

“You know living here, we are always keeping an eye on what our community is lacking,” said Raus. “Everybody I have talked to has to leave the island to get their hair cut. So, a barbershop was one of the things that we were glaringly missing here on Daniel Island to make the livability of the island better. We’re hoping that the Daniel Island Barber Shop enhances our community and makes it a better place to live.”

Cole added that they want the shop to be a place where residents want to hang out, even if they don’t have an appointment.

“We hope this place can maintain the balance between where guys are comfortable with coming in and having a cup of coffee and socialize even if they don’t get their hair cut, but then mama still feels good bringing in the boys and having them come and get their hair cut. We want to stay away from the high-end bourbon and beer kind-of barbershops, but above Supercuts. We wanted to fill the gap in between.”

Another big goal that the shop hopes to reach in the future, Cole emphasized, is to become the leading barbershop in the area.

“We want to be the center of barber excellence in the Lowcountry,” said Cole. “We want to be viewed as the place where the best barbers are, where the best haircuts are, and where barbers who come through our barbershop are viewed as attractive candidates to go to other places.”

The Daniel Island Barber Shop takes customers by appointment and walk-ins. Currently, their hours are Tuesday - Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. For more information or to make an appointment, give them a call at (843) 936-6526 or visit their website at www.dibarbershop.com. They are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DIBarbershop/.

Daniel Island Publishing

225 Seven Farms Drive
Unit 108
Daniel Island, SC 29492 

Office Number: 843-856-1999
Fax Number: 843-856-8555

 

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