May 21, 2021

In LaRon Tivis’ barbershop on wheels, guys can get everything but a straight razor shave.

That makes sense when his chair is bolted to a floor that has a little bounce to it.

Tivis, who owns the Groom Room Barber Shop in Pipestone, Minnesota, has added a mobile shop and has been setting up three days a week in Brandon.

He’s right next to the Fish & Chips food truck in the parking lot of a retail center at 509 N. Splitrock Blvd. His partner, Ericka Jackson, runs that business.

The setup helps draw in customers.

“People are finicky about their hair,” Tivis said. “They’re more apt to come and get some fish and talk to me before they’ll have a haircut. And then next time, they’re like, ‘Oh man, this guy was a pretty nice guy. I’ll try him out.’”

While the straight razor shave is offered only at his bricks-and-mortar barbershop in Pipestone, the trailer is set up for everything else.

“I’m a typical, conventional barbershop. Come in here and get a nice beard trim, your eyebrows, your ear hairs, your nose hairs, a really nice haircut, get you nice and smooth,” Tivis said. “I’m just in the hair-removal business, so that when you go home, your wife or girlfriend or kids, they notice that you got a haircut, and really notice, not like a Fantastic Sams where you got pieces of hair left. I take my time.”

The barbershop is convenient for his clientele, Tivis said.

“Men are more spontaneous when it comes to their appearance,” he said, noting that appointments aren’t needed.

The mobile barbershop is typically open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Tivis started giving haircuts when he was 9 and has been a licensed barber for over a decade.

Before that, he lived in St. Paul and worked in a foundry, pouring molten iron and steel to make things like engine blocks and fire hydrants.

“The economy plummeted, and I was trying to figure out something to do that I could do. I have been doing this forever. I never thought it for an occupation ever.”

But now, “I like what I do. I never feel like I’m working.”

Tiny Fish & Chips trailer offers simple menu with lots of flavor