Next month, Gents Barbershop Queenstown is opening its second outlet — within Mr. Davis Menswear’s store, at Frankton’s The Landing.
Mr. Davis owner Kathryn Davis opened her store last September, but says the space has "always been too big for my business model".
"I’ve always had this negative space out the back, and I didn’t quite know where to pivot to."
One of her clients suggested she meet Gents owner Henry Brain, initially thinking they may be able to work together on weddings.
"I came out here, just to have a walk-through, met Kathryn and she wouldn’t let me leave," Brain laughs.
Fortuitously, Brain, who’s owned Gents for about three years, says he’d been looking to expand for a while, but financially it was a big call.
The pair got their heads together and, with support from the landlord, have retrofitted Mr. Davis’ space, to enable Gents to open its second barbershop in the tenancy next month.
"For both of us it works amazing," he says.
"We’ve both got the same demographic of clients, the same brand ethos, same values, so it works seamlessly for us to be able to come out here and provide for men’s grooming.
"There’s no one catering for the premium market [in Frankton] — a lot of it is high-volume services ... we’re just about premium quality as much as we can."
Davis is also impressed at the loyal clientele Gents has been able to establish, noting it’s hard to get men to care enough about themselves to get a haircut every six weeks.
"That’s what I’m all about as well — getting men to look and feel good," she says.
"That’s a really big thing for [Henry, he] really wants men to care about their grooming and their overall appearance.
"If they start off with me first, then head in there or vice-versa ... I hope I can just continue that buzz of feeling [good about themselves]."
Brain says they’re putting four chairs at the back of Mr. Davis’ store, offering the full range of services there, too, and have already increased their barbers from six to eight, hoping to add two more by the end of the year.
Davis, meantime, has also brought her sewing machine into the store, enabling her to do her clients’ alterations on site to "complete the process".
Gents at Mr. Davis is expected to open mid-next month.
