CINCINNATI -- Time seems to stand still inside Greenhills Barber Shop.
Fluorescent lights flicker from the ceiling. A vintage cash register chimes when opened, and the chairs, complete with ash trays, date back to the 1950s.
This barber shop, which has delivered countless haircuts for the past 80 years, will close its doors July 31, owner Larry Glass said.
The shop has been losing money for years, and Glass said he was forced to close after their landlord tripled their rent.
“It’s sad that we’re closing after so many years, and all the customers who have come in to talk to us are sad about it,” Glass said. “Some of them, it’s the only place they’ve ever got their haircut.”
No one knows the customers like Ray Betker; he’s been cutting hair at the shop for 44 years.
“If you’re in Greenhills and you know Greenhills Barbershop, you know who Ray is,” Glass said.
Betker’s customers have raved about his work on social media, and while he isn’t one for the spotlight, he did make one thing clear: he cares about his customers.
“A lot of them are considered friends more than customers,” Betker said.
But even after the store closes, Betker and Glass know the memories are timeless.
“I think the memories will last forever,” Glass said. “Of course they won’t get their haircuts here anymore, but yeah, I think the memories will last forever.”
The shop’s landlord said he needed to raise rent in order to afford a backlog of maintenance issues, and he said another barber shop plans to rent out the space.
