Heather Latter
Janine Lange had the idea of opening a salon for men since she was in hair school.
Now she’s thrilled to open the doors of CrossHairs Cuts for Men at 262 Church St. (in the basement).
“It’s always something that’s been in the back of my head,” Lange noted.
“I knew the barbers in town were all going to be retiring at some point.
“I always thought it would be a great window of opportunity to get into when that happened so I jumped on it,” she added.
Lange has been a licensed hairdresser for 11 years, but she stepped away from hairdressing a few years ago—taking on the branch manager position at InstaLoan here.
But when the business closed its doors, she decided to pursue the dream she always had.
“I wanted to get back into hair,” Lange noted. “I missed it.”
She said her new salon has been in the works for about a year—from the idea on paper to opening the doors.
“For so long, I kept calling it the ‘man shop,’” Lange chuckled. “And then when it became real and I got the funding, we sat down and really thought about the design we wanted.
“Being in Northwestern Ontario, such an outdoorsy place, we thought, let’s try to hit that angle,” she recalled.
“It just kind of popped into my head, CrossHairs, because I really wanted something with ‘hair’ in the name.”
And it really worked with the hunting theme.
“We’re big hunters so we kind of went in that direction, but hopefully not too empowering,” she remarked.
The logo, consisting of a scissor blade manipulated to also look like a rifle, was created by 807 Grafix.
“I told her kind of what I wanted and did up a picture on my own, and she ran with it,” Lange said.
“I swear she plucked it right out of my head.”
Lange added the location for the salon fell right into place. She knew the new owner of the building and the basement could be built to fit her needs.
“It was a wide-open concrete basement,” she noted. “It had no walls.
“So she has done a ton of work to the basement floor level.”
The owner allowed Lange to pick exactly the size of the space she wanted and where she wanted everything.
“So it was built custom from linoleum up,” she enthused.
Inside the space, located at the bottom of the stairs, is a nice waiting area complete with three comfy chairs and a flat-screen TV.
“There will be coffee available every day,” Lange said.
“I wanted it to feel like it was a guys’ den at home, with that comfy cabin feel or man cave,” she explained.
She added the decor all came from the woods-inspired border on the walls.
Lange’s new salon also features an official barber chair, called “The Commander.”
And she has the sink set up so the client does not have to move. Instead, she simply can turn the chair and it will reach the sink.
“It’s nice for the older clients,” she reasoned, noting although there are some stairs to access her shop, it’s a short flight of stairs that she’s hoping most people won’t have problems with.
Meanwhile, Lange already is seeing positive feedback about her salon for men, with three clients coming in last Monday (Nov. 9)—her first day open—within the first hour.
“Right now, I’m just sticking to the basics and offering haircuts for men,” she noted, adding she will be offering colours in the future by appointment.
And she stressed she’ll be serving males of any age.
“Obviously, women are welcome to come in but I won’t be cutting their hair,” she remarked.
Lange said she doesn’t want to cut women’s hair because she’s simply focused on the male clientele.
“The service [for women] is available at many other places in town,” she noted.
“I don’t want to turn people away but it’s supposed to be for the men.”
She said that’s what makes her salon unique.
“I have worked in two other salons in town and a highly respect them, and didn’t want to step on their toes,” she reasoned, noting that’s why she opted for the different target audience.
CrossHairs Cuts for Men will be operating solely on a walk-in basis at this time.
“I don’t foresee that changing,” Lange said. “In the survey I had put out, almost every reply I got was walk-in.
“With the men, the longest they would wait is 10 minutes because their cuts are so simple and fast that the wait time isn’t really substantial to begin with,” she explained.
Lange is hoping her salon has a “manly” feel, but is welcoming to families.
“I want dads to come in with their sons,” she stressed, adding she also wants her business to become a part of the community.
“My main goal is to be very community-oriented,” Lange said.
“In the future, we plan on doing a memory wall where all the local guys bring in pictures of their hunting trips or fishing trips.”
She also wants to get involved with the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, and will be sponsoring her husband and his partner in the tournament.
“I have other plans for a charitable fund for local families who really need it,” Lange said.
“Those things will come in the future, but I’m really going for a community/family vibe here.”
She’s also hopeful this will be a nice transition for herself.
“Right now, barbering is something you are certified for within your hairdressing licence,” Lange explained.
“It never used to be, it used to be a whole separate trade,” she noted.
“But there are classes I plan on taking to upgrade my knowledge.”
Lange admitted she’s nervous about the new endeavour because she’s never owned her own business before, but she’s hopeful things will go smoothly.
CrossHairs Cuts for Men will be open Monday and Wednesday from 2-10 p.m., Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
“I thought it would be good to be open later a couple of evenings for shift workers,” Lange reasoned.
“I don’t know if I’ll continue with it but we’ll see how it goes.
She noted the base rate for haircuts starts at $17.50, and she is accepting cash only at this time.
For more information, visit CrossHairs Cuts for Men on Facebook.
