Danny Bermudez has worked in the hair cutting industry for 10 years as a barber and an owner.
His Vineland barbershop, The Dugout, has been a popular baseball-themed spot for locals and even folks from Maryland to get a fresh cut, but he thinks his name can grow even more.
The 47-year-old wants to set up shop in the 1995 black Winnebago Warrior he won in a raffle from a barber in Florida. But there’s a major roadblock impeding his plan: It’s not legal to have a barbershop on wheels in New Jersey.
Bermudez’s path to launch ’Dugout Mobile’ runs through a friend with quite a bit of pull in the Garden State, and that friend is fighting his fight.
“Legislative District One Senator Mike Testa has been a customer of mine for years and he spreads the love around the whole city of Vineland,” Bermudez said. “I gave him a couple of proposals — and right now along with the help of Brittany O’Neill, the chief of staff of Legislative District One, we’re drafting the bill to permit barber shops on wheels. It needs at least 21 of 40 votes to pass. Mike says he loves the idea, it would work, it won’t take long for the bill to pass and he wants to be the first one in the chair when the shop opens.”
Bermudez was forced to close doors at The Dugout on March 22 and didn’t reopen until June 22. He didn’t receive unemployment for 16 weeks and his wife, Donna, works in the food business and was additionally put out of work for an extended period of time.
Rent payments for the shop became strenuous and for Bermudez, three months felt like an eternity.
Should the state shut things down again in the fall, Bermudez doesn’t want to relive the trouble he endured in the spring. He sees a barber shop on wheels as a privilege that would not only keep people employed, but a privilege that could help flatten the curve of the coronavirus.
“When we open up at The Dugout, we take temperatures and I ask them questions if they have been out of state or near someone sick,” he said. “I use wipes that doctors I know give me and clean every station and instrument between customers. We also use six fans in the shop to clear the air, and on my log of customers, not one has come back COVID-19 positive.
“What makes the mobile barber shop even safer is that it’s one-on-one, I only have to worry about myself instead of six other barbers, my RV is 34 feet, so I can sterilize everything easier, and I have windows throughout the vehicle that circulate the air,” he added. “I want to ensure people that I’m 100 percent sanitized.”
Bermudez hopes to continue serving the clients that have been most loyal not only to him, but society in general.
He also wants to help those struggling financially and he thinks Dugout Mobile can give him the platform to do so.
“I like to deal with police officers, officers who work at jails, first responders and veterans,” the barber said. “Some veterans don’t have the means to pay for things like haircuts and those are the people I want to take care of. I’ve been doing it for 10 years — and when they ask me how much they owe, I tell them they owe nothing. I do free haircuts for the homeless once per month as well. If I’m able to open my RV to cut hair on the go, I would be able to do it once per week.”
One of Bermudez’s biggest pitches to Sen. Testa has been accessibility.
He has an accessory on the way that he believes benefits some of his clientele and he would be more than happy to make the haul to a family’s home no matter the distance.
“I’m ordering a 25-foot awning, which comes down and has walls and a door,” he said. “For handicapped people, that’s the space I can use for them. I’m also willing to drive to families with more than one kid even if they live far away because in New Jersey, the others waiting to get their hair cut have to sit in the car to wait. I don’t think that’s fair. The 2-year-olds and young kids should not be sitting by themselves. I want to bring my RV to them.”
One of the most rewarding things that comes along with being a barber is making people happy. Bermudez and other hair cutters in the Garden State will never go down in the books as essential workers, but you better believe he wants to feel like one.
“The bill passing would give barbers the opportunity to do different things in the industry,” he said. “When The Dugout opened back up and my customers got their haircut for the first time after months of looking like Fred Flintstone, everyone felt like a million bucks. I want to lower stress levels. I want to make people happy. I want to be essential.”
Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.
Ryan Patti may be reached at rpatti@njadvancemedia.com. Tell us your coronavirus story or send a tip here.
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "A barbershop on wheels? Vineland native fighting to roll out his hair cutting plan in N.J. - NJ.com"
Post a Comment