East Bay Barber Sees Daylong Line After Alameda County Permits Outdoor Haircuts
PLEASANTON (KPIX) -- The simple act of getting a haircut is one of the things that has become quite complicated in recent months. With the chairs opened again in Alameda County, there were plenty of people ready to take advantage.
"When I heard that Alameda County was allowing outdoor haircuts, we immediately came down," said Chris Stoffels.
"I was just driving by, my wife saw the tents and I pulled right," said another man. "Because it's where I always get my haircut, the last 10 years."
Some of the regulars knew, others just stumbled upon it but add them all up and you had a line most of the day at Cosmo's Barber Shop in Pleasanton.
"I wouldn't be willing to wait with eight people in front of me if they didn't do a good job," Mark Wagner said of his regular spot.
"I tried to cut my son's hair myself and it was a typical COVID cut: a disaster," Stoffels said. "We figured it was time to have it done by a professional."
"Five months, man," explained Will, in town to visit his parents. "I think two weeks before shutdown. I've got the locks flowing as you can see, the beard growth. It's time I do something about it."
There is certainly untapped demand in this area but, on a trip around the county Saturday from Pleasanton to Livermore and a couple neighborhoods in Oakland, many establishments had not yet moved outside. Maybe it was the bad air but, if Cosmo's was any indication, longtime customers will be arrive when the chairs are ready.
"Wish we didn't have to wear these silly masks anymore and do it the old-fashioned way," Wagner said. "I guess this is the new norm, so you just gotta make it work."
