How many barber shops and salons are too many? For south suburban Calumet City, 57ûin immediate proximityûis too many and city leaders are looking at ways to keep barbershops and hair salons from piling up on each other. But some business owners think the
“It was suggested at a City Council meeting that we look at businesses that are rapidly expanding and those occupying a lot of commercial space,” said Calumet City Mayor Michelle Markiewicz Qualkinbush. “There was no moratorium proposed for barbershops and hair salons, merely a suggestion of how to keep shops from over saturating the area.”
She added that there are a total of 57 barbershops and hair salons in Calumet City, which she does not see as a problem. But the fact that many of them are located next door or across the street from each other is a problem. Qualkinbush said there are 31 barbershops and 26 hair salons in Calumet City but did not know how many were Black-owned.
“We do not keep a record of what color business owners are here,” she said. However, a Chicago Defender analysis identified 23 Black-owned barbershops and 12 hair salons in Calumet City. According to the City Clerk’s office, the fee for a business license to open a barbershop or hair salon in Calumet City is $150. Some Black barbers and hair stylists in Calumet City think the city needs to look at zoning issues rather than a moratorium on business licenses for them.
“The problem is not too much competition but the fact that you can find two or three barbershops located in the same strip mall,” said Avery Miller, 34, a barber at George’s Barbershop, 1551 Sibley Blvd. Just three blocks away at 1086 Sibley Blvd. is Exclusive Barbershop. Paul Sanders, 30, has worked there for three years and since that time he said five barbershops have opened on Sibley Boulevard. “It seems like Sibley Boulevard is the place to be if you are a barbershop.
Sibley is a busy strip and a lot of cars pass through here so that might explain why so many shops are located here, which sometimes causes a traffic jam and that’s where the problem lies,” Sanders added. Still, other Black barbers and hair stylists said 57 shops is a small number when you consider Calumet City has a population of 39,071, according to the Census Bureau, and 20,673 residents (53 percent) in Calumet City are Black.
“There are not a lot of barbershops or hair salons here. The city wants to slow down the growth of shops because many of them are Black-owned and they fear the high traffic it generates will lead to crimes,” said Cynthia Bynum, 39, a hair stylist at Transitions Salon, 915 Burnham Ave. “And what’s funny about all of this is the city just hired a Black man to be the police chief.”
In May Edward Gilmore, who retired as a chief inspector for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, became Calumet City’s first Black police chief. Hair stylist Nicole Patterson, 37, works at Proscissions Salon, 213 156th St. and said Calumet City is a Black city so what’s wrong with having a lot of Black hair salons and barbershops?
“I don’t know what these white folks are tripping about. Most of the people here are Black so why shouldn’t we have barbershops and hair salons to choose from?” she questioned. But despite the number of barbershops popping up in Calumet City, Qualkinbush said it is not a cash cow industry for the city. “Barbershops and hair salons are not big sales tax generators for Calumet City, so that’s probably why it (a restructuring of shops) was suggested in the first place,” she said.
“We are also looking at restructuring other businesses such as payday title loans, beauty supply and pawn shops. So it’s not just barbershops and hair salons we’re focused on.”
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