Terre Haute barber in 2nd half century with same chair

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (AP) - There really isn't a story behind the barber chair generations of guys have climbed into for a cut, trim or a shave.

Except it's the same chair John Hochhalter has used for more than half a century, and it's the only chair some of his clients have ever known.

The chair says 1963, the year he picked up the clippers at Esquire Hair Styling at 30 N. Sixth St., at the edge of a growing college campus and with a view of a historic hotel.

"There's a lot of crazy things that happened in that barbershop," Hochhalter recalled on a day off, waiting for the Seahawks to take on the Vikings in the NFL playoffs. "I'd hate to tell you all of it."

He enjoyed watching the students come and go, and loved the Thiemann's, who own the building and sell office products next door.

Hochhalter also likes the progress he's seen downtown, but it came at the expense of convenient parking for the shop.

One of his clients, Chris Davies, who owns Fitness Solutions on Walnut Street, knew Hochhalter needed more parking.

Davies' gym is adjacent to Nikki's Salon, and last summer, he approached owner Nikki Voltmer about making room for another styling station. Voltmer had never met Hochhalter.

About a month later, Hochhalter stopped by to check out the place. When Voltmer bought the building three years ago, there were no ceilings, walls, plumbing or electricity. She completely remodeled the structure and moved her full-service beauty salon from 11th and Ohio streets.

She agreed to give the barber space out front and Hochhalter said he would bring his own equipment.

So last August, Hochhalter replaced the motor and cylinder in the barber pole that's as old as the chair and re-established himself at 11th and Walnut streets. The move gained him about 30 parking spaces.

"I think it's kind of cool because you've got the old generation and the new generation coming together," Voltmer said.

The arrangement means Voltmer can meet more people and talk to someone with decades of experience in the industry. Hochhalter said his new business partner has some of the finest clientele in town.

"It's really a fine situation for me," he said, "and it is for Nikki, and it's working out really good."

Hochhalter has shared a place several times in his career. He and business partner Kenny Thomas worked together at another downtown shop until opening the one in Thiemann's building.

In the busier days, four barbers saw clients on North Sixth.

Walk-in customers were most of his business until around the early 1990s, when he shifted to appointment only.

Hochhalter plans to continue booking appointments for years to come. He considers the shop his retirement job and, besides, his regular clients would have no idea where else to go.

"This is my golf, this is everything for me," he said. "I don't have any hobbies. Barbering is my hobby."

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Source: (Terre Haute) Tribune-Star, http://bit.ly/1W4N73t

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Information from: Tribune-Star, http://www.tribstar.com