2022 Summer Updates (Pricing and Service Availability)
There has not been a blog post on this website in a long time, and that is the most consistent thing about the barber story blog, the inconsistency of it. This past year has been truly amazing, and watching local businesses pop up down the street like The Stil, & Push & Pour, has been phenomenal for growth of all the businesses on the bench. Even my older brother recently opened up Process Jiu Jitsu & Yoga, and he’s barely 15 minutes away from the barbershop. Now, for the reality behind those three businesses, maybe you don’t live here or maybe you haven’t been paying attention to every article that pops up about the city, but Boise is growing at an unprecedented rate.
I wrote Construction Sites, A Love Story, six years ago. Looking back, I had no idea how to anticipate the growth of Boise, and frankly, I don’t think anybody could really anticipate how drastically the city changed in such a short amount of time. The growth has both created a world of opportunity for those who can find their niche, as well as given a lot of entrepreneurs a moment to reflect on where our own businesses have evolved over the past few years.
Covid drastically impacted the industry, and at The Barber Story, we certainly understood those changes in a very tangible way. We moved our appointments from 45 minutes to a full hour for more attention to detail on both the cut and cleanliness. In doing so, we found out that our customers appreciated not feeling rushed, and the barbers loved having some time to breathe in between services. Me personally, I stopped working on beards during the time of Covid, and I found that I wasn’t experiencing the chronic back pain I had dealt with for years.
All the while, we never increased our prices due to covid, even though we were performing less services per day and spending more on our supplies. Fast forward two years, and the economic impact of Boise’s growth has created one of the best problems for our shop to have. We add so much value into our services, that the majority of the shop is booked out 3-4 weeks, and we haven’t even gotten into the peak summer months.
These “good problems” are still problems. If one of us gets sick, it puts them into a situation where we must work on multiple weekends to get caught up, sometimes having to work upwards of 15 days in a row to make up for the missed time. It also makes planning vacations incredibly difficult. These are things that lead to burnout, and as the owner of the business I can tell you that my biggest priority is the work/life balance of every barber at The Barber Story. I trust that every single person is giving 110% because they consistently come into work at 110%, and they take the time they need when they need it.
When you support local, independent barbershops, you are supporting a living breathing person, that you get to know on a personal level, and they become a part of your life. Going to a batbershop isn’t the same thing as going to a franchise where people get paid by the hour, regardless of how good they do, or don’t do. Our names and reputations go into every service we provide, so in an effort to keep passion fueling all of our services, we will be making a price adjustment as we move into the summer.
Effective July 1st, 2022 -
The $35 Haircut w/ Neck Shave service will no longer include a hot towel neck shave. The price for all haircuts at The Barber Story will start at $35, and additional services such as neck shaves and shampoos can be added on for $5 each.
Effective immediately -
Chris Bentley is no longer providing beard grooming, face shaving, or facial services. This only impacts bookings with Chris directly, as all other barbers still have beard shapings, as well as other facial services on their personal menus. Prices for beard grooming begins at $20, with prices for additional services, such as a hot towel & razor lineup, available to see during booking. Barbers run as independent contractors and will set their prices for any facial services they provide.
This decision allows our prices to better reflect the value we add into our services, as well as allows the barbers to dictate their own service menus for ancillary options, allowing them to expand to their client’s demand.
We are constantly striving to build a better experience, so book your appointment and come down to tell us what you think about the shop, and how we can be better than your last barbershop.
-Chris