story published by the Santa Barbara News-Press on 1/22/18
When the mud that devoured Montecito oozed onto Coast Village Road, business at Richie the Barber, like at dozens of its neighbors, vanished.
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| Jamie Slone and Richie the Barber |
Meantime, up
the road in Santa Barbara, Jamie Slone’s business was hurting badly, too, and
for a while. “During the fires, smoke suffocated the local area, nobody wanted
to go out, nobody wanted to come up [from L.A.],” says Mr. Slone, who launched
Jamie Slone Wines in 2014 and who runs one of the handful of upscale tasting
rooms in the El Presidio neighborhood.
“We got a
little breather over New Year’s, a teaser,” he continues. “But then this awful
mudslide disaster hit, and it’s been ‘game over’ ever since.”
There’s
little that connected these local businesses just a few weeks ago. Richie the
Barber and Jamie, the vintner, didn’t know each other. But then natural
disaster struck them both. And it would
take the ingenious inkling of a mutual friend – “Brandon Arlington from
CDB Group – love him!” says Mr. Slone – to bring them together and create
opportunity for both.
For the past week, Richie’s has been running a pop-up barber shop inside Mr.
Slone’s tasting room. With chairs borrowed from a nearby business, the six
barbers who work regularly at Richie’s have been back at work, welcoming
clients and trimming hair. “Many of our regulars are displaced, and a lot of
people aren’t aware yet that we’re here,” says Richie the Barber, so business
is not what it used to be. The team – Richie, Alexis, Erin, Stephanie, Jessica
and Martine, all Santa Barbara residents – have been doing about 25 to 30
haircuts a day, almost half the 45 to 50 they usually do. Under the
circumstances, though, it’s a boon nonetheless.
“The way
everything’s worked out, it’s perfect,” says the barber.
Mr. Slone
calls it a simple case of “people helping people,” something that seems extra
special in Santa Barbara, “where the degrees of separation between people are
so small,” he says.
Jamie Slone
Wines has given up its Private Reserve Room for the Richie’s team -- an elegant,
glass-enclosed space behind the bar where Mr. Slone offers by-appointment
tastings and a variety of wine education classes and experiences. But the
temporary barber shop has generated unexpected benefits for the winery, too, as
many who’ve come in for a trim stick around for a sip.
“People have
been very gracious,” says Mr. Slone. “They come early and taste, or they’ll buy
wines to take home. They discover what we do!” Jamie Slone Wines produces about
1000 cases of locally sourced wines like sauvignon blanc, chardonnay, pinot
noir and cabernet sauvignon, as well as several blends; they’re made by
celebrated winemaker, Steve Clifton.
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| Jamie Slone, center, and members of the Richie the Barber team |
“Overall,
though, this is about doing something that feels good for our community,” says
Mr. Slone, who’s had other Montecito businesses approach him about creating
similar opportunities. “There’s a need for more of this kind of thing right
now.”
And on a
personal level, Mr. Slone’s found someone new to do his hair. “Turns out, I’ve
been missing out on the Richie’s experience!” he says, with a laugh. “I’m
definitely a fan moving forward.”
Richie’s Barber
Shop inside Jamie Slone Wines is currently open seven days a week from 10am to
6pm.
Richie’s Barber Shop at Jamie Slone Wines,
23 De La Guerra Street, Santa Barbara. For haircut appointments: 805-845-9701
or 805-304-6697. For the tasting room: 805-560-6555.
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