Like just any other day, brothers Louie and Virgil Paulerio arrived at their Rosecrans Street barber shop and unlocked the glass door for customers at 8 a.m., as they have done six days a week since 1960.
On this day they noticed an envelope had been shoved under the door overnight.
Opening it, 86-year-old Louis and 82-year-old Virgil were stunned to read a letter telling them their lease would no longer be renewed, directing them to vacate the premises by May 31.
The letter contained no contact information, only an illegible signature. The sender was identified only as “Dickens LLC,” apparently referring to the Dickens Street corner where the familiar shop sits. It was in cold contrast to the warmth and gentle humanity of the Paulerio brothers.
And so, with reluctance, Louie asked his son to print a small sign that the brothers taped to that glass front door. The sign tells the sad news … their last day of business will be Saturday, May 23.
For the popular octogenarians and hundreds of loyal customers, some of whom had their first haircuts in the shop as babies, the closing will mark the end of an era.
“Somebody’s bought the property and probably wants to remodel it,” concluded Louie.
With their final day approaching, Louie and Virgil shared some memories.
Their first haircuts in 1960 were priced at $1.75 and they paid a monthly rent of $125. While business has been mostly steady over the years, the brothers endured two rough spells.
“At one time we had the hippie movement, when nobody came for a hair cut,” recalled Louie, “and we used to have a lot of people from NTC (Naval Training Center) before they closed it.”
Everyone who passed through the doors for a haircut or trim was valued, while some were also well-known.
“We had Mr. Frankie Laine (a popular folk singer, songwriter and actor who lived in Point Loma), many doctors, attorneys and judges coming here for many years. But many of them have passed away,” Virgil recalls.
Indeed, a framed publicity photo of Laine, who died in 2007, with a now-faded handwritten inscription, highlights walls that could easily double as a local history museum.
A variety of photos cover every square inch of two walls in the small shop. They include portraits of naval officers, local yachtsmen, child actor Austyn Myers, sailboats, tuna seiners, the annual Portuguese Festa, the submarine U.S.S. Jefferson City, Admiral Ulysses S. Grant Sharp and a panorama photo of the 1941 class of Point Loma High School.
One framed photo shows Louie giving toddler Mark Moffat a first haircut, while another photo shows Moffat, now 33 and a federal firefighter, posing with billionaire Warren Buffett at an investor’s meeting.
Hundreds of postcards, sent by long-time customers from vacation spots, serve as a colorful mosaic on two other walls.
One postcard shows a picturesque waterfront town and has “Madeira” printed across an azure sky.
“That’s where we came from,” said Virgil of the famed Portugal city. But it turns out the brothers took different paths to their Rosecrans Street shop.
Louie immigrated in 1947 through Ellis Island, later serving in the Korean War. He entered barber college afterward.
Virgil clearly recalls his arrival in the U.S.
“May 13, 1949,” he said with a smile. “I went to Boston because my aunt lived there. Later I went (tuna) fishing in San Diego for a few years, but there was a strike that lasted eight months when the canneries were buying tuna from Japan instead of us. I went to barber school during the strike and then came to work with my brother.”
Since the siblings teamed up, each has taken a one-week vacation each year while the other tends the shop. They are looking forward to the extra time they will have.
“I want to go to Portugal to visit my family and my brother probably will do the same thing,” Virgil said as Louie nodded in agreement.
And there will be time to work on their houses.
Louie (Point Loma) and Virgil (Ocean Beach) will be doing some home maintenance but also indulging in their favorite activities of walking and exercising, perhaps keys to their thin bodies and good health.
“We can do anything we want!” Louie proclaimed with a grin.
But while their shop’s closing under such impersonal terms saddens the octogenarians, they also remain insightful.
After pausing for a moment, Louie Paulerio said, “It’s really a blessing in disguise,” as Virgil Paulerio nodded in agreement.