Pauly and Bruno’s Barber Shop

est. before 1963

Address: 165 Jasper Rd, Bentleigh VIC 3204

From an interview with Pauly in 2021 by by Aron Lewin and Tatiana CC Scott from Tales of Brick and Mortar. Interview edited by Aron Lewin.  All Photographs © Tatiana CC Scott. Developed for Glen Eira City Council for the Talking Shops project.  

Bruno – who is my grand father-in-law – took over this business in 1963. 

It started as a solicitor’s office in the early 1950s, before turning into a barber shop a few years later. The original owner was a farmer and a businessman. He didn’t work as a barber but employed others. When my father-in-law, young Bruno, came here in the early 1960s, he did his apprenticeship in these four walls, and learned from the other barbers.

He’s from Lipari – a tiny island to the south of Italy – and started working in a barbershop at nine years old. After school, he’d go straight in. At that age, he was using razor blades, learning how to cut hair, cleaning and so on.

Some of the things they did back then were different. For example, because the town Bruno grew up in was very poor, they didn’t really have a dentist. Customers – who came in for a face shave – had no teeth, and their gums were sunken in.

They had these two silver balls that they’d put inside the customer’s cheeks. Their cheeks would puff out and he would go over their cheeks with the razor-blade. That way, he wouldn’t cut them. They’d use the same two balls for everyone. There was no sterilisation. Nothing. Little things like that were normal back then.

He left Italy at 21 years old because it was compulsory to join the army. He escaped and went to Germany first before arriving in Melbourne. When he finished his apprenticeship at 24 years old, Bruno said he wanted to leave the barbershop, and do his own thing.

The owner said, “How about you buy this one off me?”

Since 1963, this has been his home.

Bruno came to the shop the day he arrived by boat.

Back then, if you wanted a job, you just walked in. At the time, his English was terrible. He did well and learned the slang pretty quickly. Like so many migrants, he came here with nothing. It was work, work, work, and he built the shop up over time.

Before he took over, the business was a one-stop-shop. Barbering was the main thing, but they used to sell t-shirts, cigarettes and worked as bookies. Bruno loved his horse-racing, and become good friends with a lot of the jockeys and horse-trainers who came here.

He’s very well known for what he did for the community, and he’s a very giving person.

Bruno has two daughters who are hairdressers, one still works in Oakleigh.

Bruno’s wife also had a hair salon on Centre Road. The men would come here, and the women would go there. Bruno’s mother owns that building and was a hairdresser too.

On my side of the family, my older brother was a hairdresser. My dad was a hairdresser. My uncle was a hairdresser, and I have six cousins who are hairdressers.

It was very weird, because I had other things at the back of my mind. I wanted to join the police force or be a firefighter. But, at the end of school, Dad asked me what I wanted to do with my life, and hairdressing came naturally. I jumped in and did my apprenticeship.

Growing up, I don’t think I ever paid for a haircut. I had so many people who cut my hair.

So, I think this might be a genetic thing.

I’m getting married to Bruno’s granddaughter.

I left high school at 17 to start my apprenticeship and worked at hairdressing studios across Melbourne over the next decade. At a certain point, I wanted to do my own thing. Bruno found out and said, “Paul, you are part of the family. Why don’t you take over my business?”

It was a real shock because I was looking for a lease all over town. Here, everything was set up – I just had to sign the piece of paper. After October 2019 – when I took over – Bruno worked with me for a year and a bit, in part to let people know about the transition.

Bruno still misses the shop.

During Christmas, when we were sitting outside eating, he had this moment of pause where he said, “Man, I really miss this.”

“Not for the money, but the stories. If these walls could talk, what would they say?”

So, I said, “Come down.”

He does. He lives in Mornington, but he’ll come down, drink a coffee and talks to his mates. As he got older, it wasn’t so much about cutting hair anymore. It was about the relationships he had with people. He’s a talker, and the most charismatic person you’ll ever meet. He’ll make you laugh and smile if you’re going through a rough time.

He’s the best person I know in terms of having someone to talk to. I don’t mean to sound rude, but he could stuff your hair up, and you’d still love him. It’s just the way he talks. A part of it comes with the trade, but it was also just him and his charisma.

Bruno became an Australian citizen about two years ago. He was supposed to go on holiday, which was the start of him going back to Italy.

Then, the pandemic happened.

Bruno says that he bought the business at the worst time.

It was during Beatle Mania, when everyone grew out their hair. He couldn’t believe it. He used to say, “I’m going broke.” If you ask him to this day, he’ll say that he hates The Beatles. What he went through, I’m going through in a similar way, with people growing their hair out for a different reason.

Fashion always goes around in a circle. Now, it’s mullets. I’m not a fan. I had one yesterday. A number two on the back-and-sides, half on top and I wasn’t allowed to touch the back. They all want to be like Bailey Smith. All the kids want to look like him.

Growing up in high school, it was all short-back-and-sides, and you had to be freshly shaven. The beards are back now, which is great, but when kids come in, they say, ‘I want the Bailey Smith.’

That’s fine.

Bruno was also old-school.

He would cut hair the way he wanted to cut it. If you didn’t like it, too bad. He didn’t care. I think because he was so charismatic, he got away with it. You’d ask for something and he’d say, nup. He said and did what he wanted but, most of all, he did it respectfully.

He had that idea in his head, which is partially true, which is, “We’re the experts, leave it to us.” He’d go with your face shape, eyes, nose, mouth and so on. Everyone has a certain style that fits their face shape.

I’m trying to keep as much of it alive as possible. Whenever a customer sits in my chair and has a request – or shows me a photo – I’ll say, “This is what I recommend.”

I’ll still give what they want but I’ll offer an alternative.

The transition from Bruno to me was good.

After taking over the business, I knew that keeping everyone amid the transition wasn’t possible. But I stayed true to who I was. I have a lot of customers who were once Bruno’s, who come here for me. We also have a lot of new customers, which is great.

If customers left, I never took it personally. After 50 years, of course it’ll be a shock. But I’ve started to notice that customers are starting to return. After two or three years, I’ve finally gotten the chance to cut their hair.

There are also older customers who come here and ask for ‘the usual.’

It’s a continuation from Bruno to me.

One thing I’ve really pushed is face shaves and head shaves.

I’ve gotten my name out there enough where I am known to look after people with disabilities, who are covered by NDIS. It’s one area of the business that’s grown, and I really enjoy it.

For a lot of the places I worked for, everyone has always spoken about getting younger people in. What I found is that there might be less emphasis on other members of the community. They still need haircuts and – for people with a disability in particular – they might need a bit more time. I have time, so I’ll give them my time.

The work isn’t gender-specific either. The barbershop became more of a male-dominated thing over time, but it’s changing. I cut women’s hair as well. Short hair styles are no different, regardless of gender.

The fact that this is a family business with a deep history is something I connect deeply with.

I love him so much, and I’m very honoured that Bruno offered the business to me. It’s part of the reason I kept his name on the window, and in the new business name. I also commissioned a mural of him on the wall. It means everything to me, and I want to carry it in the highest respect. Being here for 56 years like he was, is a massive achievement. I listen to him like gospel.

One thing he always told me, which has stuck to me like glue, it's that you have to earn respect. When you earn their respect, customers are happy to wait. For example, I did a haircut the other day for two boys, which took an hour. Customers were happily waiting.

I’ve also felt free to make changes. I never wanted to stay in the same spot, in terms of mentality. You always want to move forward. If something new comes out – or a different trend comes in – I’m happy to work with it.

As long as every haircut isn’t a mullet.

The last few years have been the toughest that I’ve faced in my life.

I would often talk to Bruno about some of the things that I should do, and he was stumped. Never in his lifetime did he have to shut his business forcedly. I’d ask him, “Really, what am I going to do?” and the answer was always, “Nothing.”

When we could open, people expressed how important we were to them. It’s not that I want to put myself on a pedestal, but there was an appreciation. Often, when I’d open after a lockdown, customers would leave a tip. These little things meant the world to me.

It has nothing to do with the money, but it’s the way they show it. Often people would say, “Thank god you’re open,” and “Thank god you’re back.” I even had people messaging to ask if I could come to their house and cut their hair, which I couldn’t do.

It showed that this shop is a very community-based thing.

I want to keep businesses like this strong in every community.

The generational element of this business is really strong too.

Customers who came in are now coming with their kids or even grandkids.

I’m also finding that people – especially men – don’t talk about mental health as much as we should. There’s a lot of people who come in here who just want to be heard. We provide an important service, but we’re also a space where customers can feel comfortable talking, and we aren’t going to judge them.

A lot of the time customers come in, and they’re literally at breaking point. I’ve had to lock the door, and it’s just them and I in here. Unfortunately, other customers might have to wait, but I make sure that they’re all right sitting in the chair.

There’s a lot of people who have done it tough and I think it’s important to spend time with them. It comes back to community, trust and respect. People can come here and say what’s on their mind. I know so many interesting stories and details that people have told me, but I could never share it, because it’s confidential. I respect it enough, and I wouldn’t even tell my fiancé.

That’s how seriously I take the information that’s passed on to me here.

I hope to be here for as long as Bruno was here.

I’m probably not going to be Bill Gates in my lifetime. All I’ve ever wanted is to have a space and a small community of people. In the same way that I go through life with them, they go through life with me. It’s a beautiful thing, and part of the reason why I do it.

I’ve always had this in me. Long before I was a barber, or doing my hairdressing apprenticeship, I knew it was what I wanted. A small shop, where I have a good set of customers and friends who turn up.

We also have a lot of customers who don’t get a haircut but come in for a chat. For example, I have a customer who comes in every morning for a 30-minute chat. Little things like that.

I’ll have a customer in the chair, and we talk about whatever’s happening in the world.

These things are priceless.

So, I can see myself doing this for the next 50 or 60 years.

The people are a large part of it. One of the things that keeps me burning and going are these conversations we have. I know how to talk to people, and I know when something is wrong.

How I start a conversation, and where I choose to take that conversation, is almost like how I cut hair. I know this sounds weird, but as I’m doing the back and the sides, I ask how they are. When I get to the top, I can see whether the conversation will become more personal. As I’m cutting their hair, I take it with me, and it carries me through the whole thing.

There’s an energy. And when I get to the really deep, interesting conversations, I notice I go a bit slower without meaning to. It’s the combination of the technical and creative – which is stimulating – and it’s not the same thing every day.

Making people’s lives a little bit easier is satisfying, and you see the impact over time.

It’s a gift to be able to do this.