Haley Vananh is ready to lay down her scissors.
The owner of Charles’ Barber Shop will permanently shut down the small hair-cutting outlet tucked in the back of Vienna’s Cedar Park Shopping Center at the end of August, she confirmed to FFXnow.
Vananh took over the barbershop about seven years ago, but the store has been at 272 Cedar Lane since at least the 1980s under three previous owners, including the late founder Charles Wright.
A business profile for the store indicates that it was founded in 1984. Vananh says Wright opened it after serving in the Navy.
“I don’t know much about the history here. I just know stories from customers, older customers,” Vananh said. “They tell me…this barber shop been here since this shopping center opened.”
While she has loved running the store, Vananh says it has become unsustainable since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in the spring of 2020, upending customers’ habits even as rent keeps going up.
With more people working from home, customers have been inclined to go three to four months between haircuts, rather than getting one every few weeks, according to Vananh. She says kids have also been letting their hair grow longer.
At the same time, rent for the 525-square-foot space has been increasing every year. With the current lease concluding on Aug. 31, Vananh says she unsuccessfully asked the landlord for a reduced price, noting that the business’ location inside the shopping center makes it tricky for customers to find.
First Washington Realty, which owns Cedar Park, didn’t return FFXnow’s requests for comment.
Vananh told FFXnow she has enjoyed the freedom of running her own business, and many regular customers have become more like friends, but considering the challenges facing the shop, she believes the time has come to retire.
“[It’s a] little bit sad, but…after I pay for the rent and utilities, there’s not much left. So, why do it?” Vananh said. “I keep telling my customers: try to understand, if I work for somebody else three days a week, I make more money than I do today, and now, I work six to seven days a week.”
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To enhance your artistic journey, we have intensified some of our Ceramics: The Wheel classes to a full 3-hour duration. This extended time allows for more creativity and skill development in each class session. If you’re eager for a captivating twist, give Contemporary Still-Life Drawing & Painting a go. Or why not try an immersive outdoor painting adventure? We have a unique opportunity for you to bring your painting skills to life while learning and creating in the great outdoors with our Landscape Painting: Studio and Plein Air class!
We invite you to visit our website and explore our full Summer Session schedule, brimming with a diverse range of classes and camps. Classes and camps begin June 20th. Unleash your inner artist, broaden your horizons, and embark on a summer adventure like no other. Let’s make this a summer to remember at Art House 7!
Potomac Harmony Chorus has a new director! We’re ready
to kick off the season with new music, a new approach, and YOU!
Potomac Harmony is one of 500 choruses in Sweet
Adelines International. We’re a vibrant,
contemporary, inclusive, welcoming, and open community of women singers who
perform four-part harmony, barbershop style, committed to a high level of
achievement through teaching, mentoring, personal growth, and performance. Our vision is to entertain, educate, and
enrich lives through musical expression while promoting the barbershop art
form.
Potomac Harmony recently had our first performance
with our new director, receiving rave reviews! We invite you to stop by any Wednesday
evening and be part of the fun and harmony!
Army Birthday Festival – Free and Fun
Make Saturday, June 10, 2023 a great day!
Come celebrate the Army Birthday Festival at the National Museum of the U.S. Army from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. Rain or Shine!
• Experience outdoor and indoor fun activities, for all
Unveiling of West Ford historical highway marker
Gum Springs will be celebrating 190 years of its founding by freedman West Ford on Saturday, June 17, 2023. To kick-off the celebration, there will be an unveiling of a Virginia historical highway marker for West Ford on Fordson Road
