AP/Joe Giblin Krystal Bombardier trims Ray henry's hair.

As I step past the door, a young woman wearing a slightly revealing shirt greets me. She's near a couch stocked with Maxim magazines. The TV's tuned to ESPN. The owner hands me a cold Budweiser. Krystal Bombardier, my barber, chides me to finish the can.

"You can't let that go to waste, just so you know," she says.

Think of Trim Barbershop as Hooters for hair.

AP/Joe Giblin Ray Henry gets a scalp massage from a barber at Trim.

___

Their all-female concept involves more than exploiting the male libido. The number of barbers has declined in America since the postwar era. Industry watchers say the neighborhood, single-chair barber is vanishing quickest, leaving some men to choose between factory-like chainstores or expensive salons.

Trim Barbershop is a low-cost salon for men, though its owners wouldn't use that word publicly. And I can understand why.

AP/Joe Giblin Complimentary beverages sit on the shelf at Trim.

Trim caters to all things male, so if I get my haircut there, my co-workers can't accuse me of going metrosexual, right? A frou-frou salon wouldn't offer beer, baseball and Maxim.

"You get all the benefits of a salon: like you get a shampoo, you get a scalp massage, you get spoiled a little bit, but none of the frills," says Krystal. "You're not in a frilly atmosphere with some old lady getting rollers set on the side of you."

Krystal is competent and buzzes my head without fuss: no uneven lines, no stray hairs.

She formerly worked at a chain shop and handled a lot of women. She doesn't mind the switch to men.

"Women are a pain," she explains. "You have to deal with the chemicals. I enjoy cutting guys' hair so much better because the guy, the consultation with you just took two seconds. Guys never really change their hairstyle."

Light flirtation is part of her tool set, just like scissors or shampoo. The shop's Web site has a slide show of its female employees. "Imagine if your barber looked great in a tanktop and gave great haircuts?" it reads. "Now stop imagining."

___

Not everyone is enthralled with the sex-appeal concept. Krystal says one angry wife received a mailer and phoned the shop, saying her husband was forbidden to go. During her tirade, she threatened to return the flier in person but never did.

Charles Kirkpatrick, executive officer of the National Association of Barber Boards of America, tells students that a proper barber wears a lab coat, not a tanktop.

"We tell them, 'Some 19-year-old kid might enjoy it, but when you're shampooing someone, you don't want your personality hanging out,'" he says . "I just don't think it's professional."

Despite racy appearances, Trim has a tame side, too. One mother was waiting on a couch while her son got a cut. The shop also has a father-son special.

Most customers, including me, finish with a head massage. Filling her palm with a dollop of conditioner, Krystal's hands circle my scalp, forehead and temples. She says men come in just for a dollar-a-minute massage session between haircuts.

The massage is a strong selling point, especially when Krystal talks up the barbershop while working part-time as a bartender.

"A lot of guys actually come in more for the free beer," she says. "They're more attracted to that and the scalp massage than the fact of, I think, the tank top thing."

___

Find it online: http://www.trimbarbershops.com/

___

Ray Henry is an AP reporter based in Providence, Rhode Island.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.