By Susan Carroll
Review Writer
Need a hair cut or straight razor shave?
Stephanie Armstrong welcomes patrons to step into her new business, Silver Fox Barber Shop, to experience a good old-fashioned pampering.
The salon opened officially on March 6, offering a way to “discover the barber shop experience,” she said.
Stephanie, who spent 6 years in the army, was a union laborer and then worked road construction before deciding that she no longer wanted to “shovel” for a living and wanted a career change.
Off to the Flint Institute of Barbering she went to learn the trade.
After completing the program, she was employed as a barber when she decided to open her own shop in Orion Twp.
After a two-month buildout, she has her very own barber shop… complete with a barber shop pole.
Ever wondered why the barber pole is red, white and blue?
That is because back in the middle ages, barbers not only cut hair and shaved their patrons, but they performed medical procedures, such as bloodletting, which was thought to cure sickness
Bloodletting involves cutting open a vein and allowing blood to drain out of the cut. As for the blue, there are two theories:
One is that it is symbolic for the cut vein; while the other is a show for patriotism.
However, today when patrons see a barber pole outside a shop, its representation signifies that both hair cuts and shaves are offered.
So how did Stephanie name her shop?
First she asked her friends for their input, but she finally decided on her own.
She said that most of her male classmates from high school were turning grey and she finds that attractive.
“You see grey and I see a silver fox,” she says.
The three-chair shop is open six days a week and is closed on Sunday.
Silver Fox Barber Shop is located on Baldwin Road in the Waldon Pond Kroger Plaza.
Silver Fox also comes complete with shop mascot, Abby, a 110-pound four-year-old cane corso canine — just to add to the atmosphere.