Wauconda barber celebrates 35 years in business
While some people dream of owning their own business at a young age, Will Tremont was not one of them — he just happened to fall into it.
But he must be doing something right because his barber shop in Wauconda recently celebrated its 35th anniversary.
“The best thing about being a barber and owning my own shop are the customers I meet and interact with everyday,” said Tremont, 63. “I listen to their stories, learning about their lives. And I share my stories with them.”
Tremont was born in Chicago. His parents moved to Wauconda when he was 5 years old and has lived there ever since. After receiving his bachelor's degree in English, he worked as a loan officer at a credit union. However, he was unhappy in the corporate world, where he had to wear a suit and tie. Discussing his situation with a former girlfriend, he had an epiphany ... being a barber would best suit his personality.
Tremont enrolled at the now-defunct Weeden's Barber College in Chicago. For several years after receiving his barber's license, he worked for another local barber. That is, until he got an offer he couldn't refuse: his own shop.
His personality is a perfect fit for the old-style barber shop — doubling as a place to socialize.
Tremont listens as much as he talks, and that makes people feel important. Many people still yearn for that type of barber shop of a bygone era, said Tremont, who has about 500 clients. He knows each by their first name, making them feel like old friends.
Memorizing about 500 names is a snap for Tremont because he has a photographic memory. He said he used to do a memory act where he would memorize an entire magazine in front of an audience. Then, he would ask individuals in the audience to call out specific page numbers and Tremont would recite stories on those pages.
Enhancing Tremont's old-time style of engaging the customers is an array of barber shop antiques in his business. Mounted to the wall is a collection of shaving mugs from the 1880s to the 1940s. A child's barber chair from the 1920s and an adult chair from the 1880s are for display only. Also inside the shop is a red, white and blue spiral barber pole from 1897 and a slot machine from the 1930s.
Tremont jokes he got the slot machine cheap because it was defective — it pays out money after pulling the lever.
About the only new addition to Tremont's three-chair shop is female barber Connie Rang, 54.
Rang, who attended the same barber college as Tremont, has been with Tremont only about one and a half years. She had been working at a shop in Lake Zurich for 34 years when she ran into Tremont.
They discussed that it would be mutually beneficial for Rang to have her own chair at Tremont's shop. According to Rang, about 200 of her customers followed her to Tremont's.
One of those customers is Chuck Praeger, 59, an aerospace marketing executive who lives in Hawthorn Woods.
“Connie has been cutting my hair for about the last seven years,” Praeger said as Rang lathered the back of his neck with shaving cream.
Praeger said his drive time doubled to follow Rang to her new shop. “But the trip time is worth it,” he quickly adds. “She cuts my hair exactly the way I like it. And I enjoy the lively conversations with Will and Connie.”
Although several barber shop chains exist in the area, Tremont said he's not worried.
“Those chains attract a different segment of the market,” he said. “My customers come here because they like knowing that the same person will be cutting their hair each time. And I know how all my client likes their hair cut. Many of my customers are multigenerational. I cut kids' hair and they grow up and bring their kids to me for their haircuts.”
When Tremont isn't cutting hair — from the end of October to early January — you will find him in Iowa hunting pheasant with his new SKB 20-gauge shotgun. During his most recent trip, he bagged nine pheasants.
Tremont said he doesn't plan to retire because he enjoys what he does. However, he said, he will most likely reduce the number of hours he works in the future.