Getting your haircut used to be a special ritual, a tradition. You’d walk down to the local barbershop and be greeted by a man who had been cutting hair for decades.
These days, getting a haircut can be a lot like getting fast food. Corporate chains, like Supercuts or Great Clips, dot the urban landscape — and they churn out haircuts efficiently, homogeneously and quickly.
But in isolated pockets, old barbershops still survive despite chains encroaching on their territory.
One of those places is on 13th Avenue — barely a stone’s throw from the Duck Store.
It’s the Kampus Barber Shop, and it’s been serving University of Oregon students and faculty since 1922.
Appointments don’t exist in this hole-in-the-wall shop. You can drop by anytime you like, sit in the worn chairs leaning up against walls crammed with pictures, listen to classic rock music humming in the background and wait for your turn on the stool.
“Places like chains kind of rush — speed time it— to get through their cuts,” said barber Patrick Stutz.. “We’re pretty mellow here, kind of a throwback to the old school.”
And the laid-back and welcoming atmosphere attracts a steady flow of clients, most of whom are students at the UO, but not all.
“I like the ‘no appointments.’ I can just drop-by on my way campus and get a haircut whenever,’” said UO student Jon Naify.
A major part of Kampus’ clientele are students and faculty, which causes a high turnover rate in clients — because students have an expiration date — but, according to Stutz, that’s one of the intangibles the barbershop supplies.
“Being here you get to meet a lot of people, from all over the world, just trying to get their hair cut,” Stutz said. “The university provides a really personable crowd.”
Kampus doesn’t feature the slick interiors and rapid din of a chain hair salon. It has a lived-in and distinctly Eugene flair — and for some, that’s part of the allure.
“It’s just got really nice vibes,” UO student Coleman Garner said. “You don’t get that at a chain.”
And according to Stutz, Kampus’ prices are comparable to other barber shops in Eugene but its location adjacent to campus, with a high volume of foot traffic, makes it an attractive option.
“There’s not many barber shops near campus, but we’re here,” Stutz said.
With time, change is inevitable, but sometimes something like a local barbershop slips through the cracks, transcending the novelty, and manages to thrive in its own little nook. One need not look any further than 13th Avenue to find one, a place where people come and go but the tradition stays the same.
“I don’t know any Supercuts with a bear on the wall,” Stutz said.