Cut and run: Edmonton's first mobile barbershop road-ready
Wallis Snowdon | CBC News | Posted: November 1, 2016 2:40 PM | Last Updated: November 1, 2016
'I try to do only the best for my clients and make everybody happy and make everyone look good'
Fadi Farhat is ready to brush off his new business venture — male grooming on the move.
The Edmonton barber has decided there is an untapped market for roadside haircuts.
Farhat has been cutting hair inside Lynnwood Barbershop in west Edmonton for 13 years and has accumulated a big roster of regular clients.
But recently, the master barber has been feeling a bit hemmed in by the bricks and mortar.
He's decided to take his clippers and razors on the road.
Soon his Mercedes Sprinter van, complete with barber chair and barber-pole paint job, will be taking its place downtown beside the vendors of donairs, salad rolls and green onion cakes.
His new business Cut and Run will be Edmonton's first mobile barbershop.
Farhat says, opening another shop would cut into profits, but the mobile business will give his bottom line a boost.
"I'll come to your house, but I want to pick my own spot somewhere downtown," Farhat said in an interview with CBC Radio's Edmonton AM.
'Like a real traditional barber'
"Because downtown there is a lots of traffic, lots of people, and I think some places downtown, their prices are way too much and I like to charge my customers what I like to pay.
"And a lot of business people are downtown, so I'm moving downtown to serve that clientele."
Farhat has gutted and refurbished his van with all the trappings of a regular salon.
"I made it all like a real traditional barber and we designed it like this so people know it's a barbershop," said Farhat.
"You'll see how we even have red barber chairs just like the old tradition.
"You'll get a good job and a decent price."
'We did everything professional'
The van is ready to hit the road, but he still needs to pass a final inspection with the city.
Farhat says it's a process which has required a bit of patience and finesse, since the city was initially indecisive about how to regulate a mobile barbershop.
"When I worked with the city, they were confused. They didn't know. But with a little bit of work, a couple of hours, they found out about how we had to do the electrical and plumbing," Farhat said.
"The city doesn't have a code for this business so they converted me to a food truck, but we're getting the inspections and we're almost done. We did everything professional."
Farhat has will meet with inspectors again Tuesday morning and, if all goes smoothly, he hopes to be on the road by the end of the week.
He can't wait to rev the engines and open the doors to his first customer.
"I try to do only the best for my clients and make everybody happy and make everyone look good."