In downtown Guelph, you’ll soon be able to quaff a beverage and get your hair coiffed at the same time.
The bartending barber behind the idea doesn’t recommend it, though.
“I think you would be best served to have your drink before or after your haircut,” Matthew Forbes said, through laughter, in an interview.
Forbes owns Matthew’s Barbershop, which opened on Macdonell Street last December. He’s also the head barber. In fact, he’s the only barber.
Despite the shop’s small size – 211 square feet in total – Forbes has been looking for ways to diversify his business.
His first idea was to start selling hats. The next step came this week, when he was approved for a liquor licence.
By next week, he expects to be offering his customers scotch, whiskey, bourbon and craft beer.
“I feel like it’s a traditional thing that would happen in traditional barbershops,” he said.
Forbes says he knows of one barbershop in Toronto that offers alcohol, but none locally.
The retired Canada Post worker plans to keep his shop open late two nights per week, and hopes even people who don’t need a haircut will consider stopping for a drink in what’s likely the smallest bar around.
“I’ve lived in a lot of places – east coast, west coast, in-between,” he said.
“Guelph’s the first place where I feel like I belong.”
With reporting by Katarina Milicevic