Redd’s Barbershop is a establishment of the old-fashioned kind. Located in a hidden corner of Pacific Plaza shopping center on Garnet Avenue, the barbershop can be identified by its red, white and blue striped pole, which revolves lazily in the window. The shop itself lacks a front counter or a designated waiting area; couches are set against the wall, while the rest of the shop is taken up by a row of barber’s stools, stretching the length of the room. The barbers chat up the clientele, and a TV plays quietly in the corner. One man sits with a beer in hand, apparently taken from a cooler.
Redd’s Barbershop is owned by Basard Redd and Hilse Juarez, who refer to it as “old school.” They partnered up with the goal of recreating the feel of a traditional barbershop, where the sense of community is as important as the quality of the haircuts. There’s no loud music for the customers to talk over, and no customer database for email lists and scheduled appointments. This lack of “frills” both sets it apart from big-name hair salons, and actually works in its favor – the atmosphere of the little shop is unconceited and intimate. Basard describes it as a place where you can “sit down, have a beer, and have a great conversation.” The building has housed barbershops under various owners since 1952, making Redd’s the latest in a proud line of hair cutters. The previous barbershops ascribed to the same ideas of community and connection; Redd’s still gets customers who have been coming there for decades, and now make up part of its weekly clientele. The shop’s two owners come from vastly different backgrounds, drawn together by a shared idea of what a barbershop should mean to a neighborhood. Hilse is a third-generation barber; her grandfather cut hair in Mexico, and her father immigrated here at 14, eventually settling down with a shop in Tijuana. Meanwhile, Basard is the first in his family to become a hairdresser. Basard initially went to school for engineering, and worked for a while at an Alaskan oil company. But when the company left, he moved back to San Diego to open a coastal barbershop. It had been a lifelong dream of his.
“Barbershops should be a personal thing,” Basard told us. “Too much it’s like, you’re in and you’re out. [People] should be more than just clients.” Redd’s Barbershop Where: 1738 Garnet Ave. Info: 858-483-1514.