Over history, barbers have been a lot of things – from dentists to priests – but they have always been students of human nature.
Including their own.
Terrence Vyfhuis knew he liked cutting hair, but he also recognized the entrepreneurship bug within. Leaving the former CNC Barbershop and Spa and opening a private salon, he did more than just go out on his own.
For Vyfhuis, opening The Cut Barbershop was another step on a path to his real intentions.
“I want to franchise this in the next two or three years,” he said. “This is like a blueprint.”
The Cut opened Dec. 1 at 19395 N. John Wayne Parkway in Suite B. It operates by appointment. Clients can call 520-858-2117 to schedule their time in the chair.
In a typical salon, a wait can be two or three hours, Vyfhuis said. “This is something people were asking for. It makes their day more efficient.”
The Cut Barbershop is a two-chair salon behind the Maricopa Auto Spa south of the railroad tracks. He said previous clients have transferred over with him to the new location.
“It’s about going back to how barbershops used to be,” Vyhuis said. He describes shops as historically being centers of community, family and culture. They were public forums for issues of the day while engaged in communal shearing. Like a bartender, the barber tended to be an amateur psychologist.
That is the atmosphere, along with the enjoyment of cutting hair, Vyfhuis wants to create in his shop.
Being a machinist engineer in the U.S. Navy did not seem to be a setup for acquiring the skills he actually wished for, but the experience did give him two skills. He learned how to deal with a variety of people and personalities. And he started cutting hair.