New Nanango barber a blast from the past

John Abbott is bringing a traditional barber shop to Nanango, opening on Tuesday, December 11.

John Abbott is bringing a traditional barber shop to Fitzroy Street Nanango, opening on Tuesday, December 11. Picture: Elaelah Harley

A TRADITIONAL barber shop is coming to Nanango, opening on Tuesday, December 11.

John Abbott, the new owner and barber, said the shop would feature "the works”, including old fashioned clipper cuts, beard trims, shaving and hot towels.

"I've always had traditional barber shops, and my wife and I own one in Brisbane. We've just employed a manager there so that we can start up here,” he said.

Mr Abbott and his wife moved to Nanango to retire.

"This is where we're retiring to. We built a house up here last year, and this is my idea of retiring... owning a one-man barber shop. There's not a barber shop in Nanango, so we found there was an opportunity,” he said.

"Even though I'm not actually retiring, if you think about the old saying 'a change is as good as a holiday,' it really is true.

"Going from running a really busy barber shop in the city with a lot of employees, I won't have that pressure any more.”

Nanango originally appealed to the couple because of its country culture.

"We both grew up in the country. My wife grew up in Gympie and I grew up in Monto, and after living in the city for years, we just wanted to get back to the country. It's a more attractive lifestyle for us, as the city was a bit too busy,” Mr Abbott said.

Located on 31 Fitzroy St, one of the selling points for Mr Abbott was the great range of parking.

"The location is great. I thought about renting a space in the main street, because there were some good options there, but what attracted me to this place was how convenient the parking is,” he said.

"Blokes are strange creatures, and they often don't like to shop. When they want a haircut, they ideally want to get a parking spot at the front, walk in, find nobody waiting, sit in the chair and then come straight out 15 minutes later.

"Of course, people will spend some time waiting every now and then, but parking and easy access is really important for a barber.”

Mr Abbott was also pleased to find what was hidden underneath his new rental.

"I'm really lucky because this place used to be a hairdressing salon. The community arts people have been enjoying the use of the shop, but all of these benches and mirrors were covered up. When they left, they brought it back to what it was,” he said.

"Now, all I have to do is bring in my big barber chair, all of my clippers and tools, and put the signs up. That's not a lot to do, really. I just have to get started.”