Westgate mall barber Ramon Carballude's not retiring at 85, he's just moving
When Ramon Carballude took over the Westgate Barber Shop in 1968, a haircut cost $1.75.
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That was soon bumped up to $2. But 57 years later and on the cusp of his 85th birthday, Carballude is still cutting hair and plans to keep on cutting it, even after the shop closes at the end of July.
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Carballude and his colleagues for the last 20 years, brothers Hoang, Hung and Tong, will be moving over a new space a few blocks away at 1572 Carling Ave., aptly called the New Westgate Barber Shop.
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Carballude, who enjoys fishing, winemaking and vegetable gardening in his spare time — his Spanish padrón peppers are a particular source of pride — plans to spend his holidays in northern Spain, where he owns a house near the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. He will turn over the shop to the brothers, but will continue to work part-time at the barber shop.
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'People are nice to you. Why would you want to get away from them?' he said.
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Carballude arrived in Canada in 1965 from Spain, where he trained as a barber in a small town in Galicia. He worked for two years in construction while he was working to get his papers as a barber.
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He saw plenty of changes as the decades rolled by. The 1960s and 70s brought longer hair. The pandemic was a rough time for personal services businesses. He has six chairs in the shop and he and the brothers perform, on average, more than 70 cuts a day.
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Richard Guenette has been a client since the 1990s. He worked for a beauty supply company and noted that Carballude paid his bills promptly.
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'He bought in volume and he always paid his bill. He's a good businessman,' said Guenette as a Carballude lathers his neck and shaves it with a straight razor, something he also does for beards.
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'The new barber shops in the malls have big rents and they're really expensive. For me, to spend $50 or $60 for a haircut, that doesn't make sense,' said Guenette, gesturing at his sparse locks.
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'It's so old-school. You don't see anything like it anymore,' said Dave Allston, who has lived in the neighbourhood all his life and writes a local history blog, the Kitchissippi Museum.
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'Now, all the new barber shops opening up are high-end. They've got the younger guys and they'll give you a good haircut. It really appeals to the younger generations,' said Allston, who last got a Carballude cut in May.
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