Keeping Gresham Handsome Traditional Barber Shop Going Strong After Relocation

Melodie Favara: Photo credit, Jim Kight
Meet Blake, Toshia and Melody: Photo credit, Jim Kight

A year and four months after moving her traditional barber shop to its new location on 1149 NE Division Street, Melodie Favara is still catching up with customers from her former location, and has attracted quite a few new ones.

“Traditional” is the key word at Hair’s My Barber Shop; Favara is the proprietress of a classic barber shop—complete with a vintage barber pole–catering exclusively to men.

“I knew after three weeks in beauty school that traditional barbering for men was the career path for me,” she says.

When an expansion by her former landlord necessitated the shop’s relocation, Favara began scouting for a new location. In terms of square footage, the January 2016 move was a big upgrade, from a 300- square foot, two-chair shop on NE Kane to the 1000-square foot shop on Division.

Favara isn’t shy about her choice to concentrate her tonsorial skills and marketing savvy on a male-only clientele. She explains that men are easier, and more loyal, traits she says can be notoriously rare in the realm of women’s hairstyling.

Neither does Favara have any qualms about approaching potential customers with stylistically-challenged or badly-cut hair, saying, “Hey buddy, I’m a local barber and I could use your head in my business. If your hair is unbecoming to you, you should be coming to me.”

Favara’s mother was in the hairstyling business, as was her first generation Italian grandmother, but it was while working alongside her father Paul at Paul’s Barber Shop (opened in 1972) that she learned her best lessons about the trade. When Paul died in 1997, Melodie became the third generation of Favaras to work in the barbering business.

“By the time Dad died I was handling most of the customers,” says Favara, “and I still have some of Dad’s original customers today.” She also has some of his original compilation cassettes (Frank Sinatra, The Mills Brothers, classic standards and the blues) which provide the soundtrack at the shop.

Return customers, including whole generations of families, made the father/daughter shops a success over 45+ years. Favara says it’s not uncommon for her to have cut hair for grandfathers, their sons, and grandsons. She has mentored young barbers along the way, several of whom have gone on to open their own shops.

Giving back to the community is part of Favara’s business ethic. The shop is currently participating in an ongoing food drive to benefit the Sanctuary Food Bank, offering a dollar off any service for customers who bring in canned or other nonperishable goods.

“We aren’t into long relationships,” Favara says about efforts to minimize her customers’ wait times. Hair’s My Barber Shop is a walk-in only shop, with three to four associate barbers helping Favara keep the haircuts flowing. The shop offers high-and- tights, fades, flattops, beard trims, and traditional shaves with hot steamed towels and single-blade razors.

Store hours are 10-5:45 Monday through Friday and 9-3:45 on Saturdays. The store phone number is 503-667-5450.

If not busy tending to her customers in the shop, Melodie Favara can be found handing out flyers in a Home Depot parking lot or other locations, and offering helpful critiques of the haircuts she encounters.

“It has been my great pleasure to help keep Gresham handsome,” she quips.

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