Gary’s Barber Shop to celebrate 50 years with an open house

Greeley said he finished up his apprenticing with J. Albert “Stub” Gill in Maryville. Then, in order to pass his state certification, he had to give a haircut and a shave, so he took his dad, Dick Greeley.

Greeley explained that at the time there were many barbers and while working with “Stub” he learned a lot. As barbers closed up shop, he kept working. Greeley opened Gary’s Barber Shop in 1972 and hasn’t looked back since.

“It was really hard for me to get started because I was the new barber in town maybe in eight years,” he said. “It took some time to shake customers loose from the other barber. So it was hard.”

Over the years, Greeley has found himself having to move his businesses, four times, in fact with two of those due to a couple of local catastrophes.

His location at Third and Main streets was compromised due to a fire on the southwest corner of the square on Aug. 17, 1975. The city told him he had to leave, so he moved to 219 N. Main St.

Many years later Greeley again had to move because of another catastrophic building collapse on Dec. 21, 1991 when the pool hall fell.

Now Greeley focuses on cutting men’s and boys’ hair. He used to shave as well, but hasn’t done that in about 30 years. One of his favorite aspects of the business is working for himself; however, he also enjoys riffing with customers and telling a tale or two.

Complete with a notepad filled with things he wanted to remember to tell The Forum, Greeley said someone asked him how old he was when he started cutting hair — 10? “I said, ‘No, I was 11!’”

He then told a story about his aunt Geraldine (Greeley) Bears, whose husband Kenneth Bears was a longtime barber in Burlington Junction.

“One day she said, ‘Don’t work for 50 years,’ but I forgot to ask her why!” Greeley exclaimed. “I think I know why.”

While he didn’t say anything about retiring, Greeley did mention that he has stopped cutting hair on Mondays.

Iowa resident Mike Ridnour drives around 35 miles from his home for haircuts at Gary’s Barber Shop and was on hand Thursday.

“Basically there are no barbers left in Iowa,” he said with a smile. “It’s all beauty shops anymore. They’ll cut guys’ hair … I just don’t want to go there.”

Ridnour said he comes down whenever he can. When he was young everyone got close haircuts.

“In the ’70s you didn’t get a haircut,” he said. “Times have changed.”

Ridnour said he didn’t know what he or Greeley’s other customers could do to help him continue to cut hair, but “we gotta do it.”

Jokes, chatting and a local hangout

Greeley is well known for his sense of humor and joke telling. On Thursday he said one of his more quiet customers came in for a cut and at the end told Greeley that he didn’t have any money and asked if he could pay him after his calves dropped.

Greeley said the punch line was that he hadn’t even turned out the bull yet.

That customer did pay right after that joke, but it is an example of the fun environment Greeley has created in his barber shop.

With the walls laden with family photos, Northwest Missouri State University Bearcat and Maryville High School Spoofhound sports memorabilia, the one-chair shop and small waiting room offers a lot of options for discussion.

“It’s just fun,” Greeley said.

Ridnour told The Forum that barber shops used to be a place for men to gather, hang out and chat about life. With the availability of these types of businesses dwindling, it becomes more important to shop local and keep the ones that are open around as long as possible.

On Saturday, May 7, Greeley plans to hold an open house from noon to 2 p.m. at his shop, located at 216 W. Fourth St. Refreshments will be served.