By 7 a.m. on most Saturdays, Collins Barber & Beauty Shop is already buzzing with the sound of electric razors. The smell of rubbing alcohol hangs in the air as customers take their seats, the volume of chatter raising over the humming sound.

Managed by Charleston Collins, Collins Barber & Beauty Shop celebrates 51 years of business this year. Since its opening in the late 1960s, the family business has moved twice and is now settled on South Crouse Avenue.

Charleston attributes the shop’s open tone to the barbershop rules: no cursing, dress respectably and keep electronics to a minimum — a precedent his late father established. His father, Carlton Jr., had managed the business with only an education through 9th grade.

Charleston’s son, Tyson, grew up inside the shop and, like his father, didn’t want to run the family business. It was only after he started working there in 2011 that he grew the same admiration his father found when he first started.

“When people come in here, we want people to come see how we run it and what we’re about,” Charleston said. While the shop is strongly rooted in Christianity, he said, the business establishes its reputation through the character of those who work there.

Collins Barber & Beauty Shop celebrates its 51st anniversary this year. Charleston Collins inherited the barbershop from his father, Carlton Jr., after his death in 2014. Lauren Miller | Asst. Video Editor

For customer James Merrick Jr., the respectful tone of the barbershop is unlike any other he has visited. Conversations in the shop often include hot-button topics like sports, religion and politics — all of which he said can be discussed openly.

The shop’s neighborhood has changed over the decades, and the barbershop continues to be a place of childhood nostalgia for many customers. For some of the shop’s regulars, the sense of community they once felt is no longer prominent in that neighborhood — but Charleston aims to recapture that familial feeling.

Tiffany Unscripted, a Syracuse native, came to the barbershop last weekend to have her hair buzzed off with her father. For both of them, the barbershop is a comfortable space — the shop reminds Unscripted of her own peaceful childhood, when her mother didn’t have to worry about her playing in the street.

“It’s like a time capsule. When you step in here it’s like going back in time and you can reminisce,” Unscripted said. “You run into people you haven’t seen in years and it’s almost like the meeting place.”

Her father, Nate Sistrunk, who is in his 80s, said the shop lets him ramble off about his stories — a key reason why he keeps coming back year after year.

“Anybody can cut my hair, I used to have it flowing,” Sistrunk said, taking off his beanie and showing his freshly bald head. For the Alabama native, the sense of comfort he feels at the barbershop is more important than the actual haircut received.

Rick Linzy, a long-time customer, has known Charleston since their Nottingham High School days. Linzy has taken his grandson, Gabriel Green, to the barbershop since he was six years old.

But for Linzy, the role models that Green gains from being at barbershop are the most valuable. He said exposing Gabriel to positive mentors like Collins — a black business owner — reinforces the representation Linzy wants his grandson to see for himself.

On occasion, Collins lets Green sweep up the hair in exchange for a tip. The two bond over baseball, since Green plays for the team Collins sponsors, and have since developed a mentorship relationship.

Since opening in the late 1960s, the barbershop has emphasized creating a familial feeling and sense of community for its patrons, like Jameal McMullin. Lauren Miller | Asst. Video Editor

Collins Barbershop & Beauty Shop has traditionally spotlighted family members in its annual calendar photo, but this year’s marks the first time the shop has spotlighted two non-family members. Solomon Lawrence and Myles Cherebin, valedictorians from the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central’s Class of 2017 and Nottingham High School’s Class of 2018 respectively, were selected as a way to highlight youth role models in the community.

Though Collins has heard customers say his barbershop feels like home, he doesn’t know exactly how. He thinks it comes down to comfort.

“I don’t know what their home feels like,” Collins said, “but we want them to feel comfortable when they come here.”

Published on February 5, 2019 at 10:32 pm

Contact Diana: dianar@dailyorange.com