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Posts Tagged ‘Annex Local Business Haircuts Mary the Barber’

The Annex Highlight: Studio 976

Monday, June 3rd, 2013

The sign on her salon says Studio 976 but everyone on the block knows her as Mary the Barber.

A fixture in the Annex for 34 years, Mary Vinci is a barber, hairstylist, confidante, major Leafs fan – you name it.

“I’ve watched people grow from when they were babies,” says the follicle goddess of her one-woman Bathurst Street empire that’s smack in between Dupont and Bloor. “I don’t do nails, sun tanning, pedicures. I strictly do hair. Because I’m a one woman operation here, it’s hard to do everything. Besides you’ve gotta stick with what you do best and do it well.”

The 55-year-old Italian-Canadian has groomed some great heads in her time. And she doesn’t discriminate – male or female, young or old, Muslim, Christian or Jew – she’s worked her aesthetic talent on them all.

Our family – my grandparents, my father, my uncle and my son – have surrendered to Mary’s charms: her capable hands, her colourful stories and her never-ending wit.

In 28 years, she’s been witness to my slow and regrettable hair loss, but having Mary tend to my crowning glory has somehow made it a little more bearable. She’s great for a laugh or to find out what’s going on in the neighbourhood.  A diehard Leafs fan, her clients know it’s the holiday season when Mary puts up her beloved blue-and-white Christmas tree.

About 70 per cent of Mary’s customers are men. Haircuts for men are $20, while for a women, it’s $25.

She’s proud of her 22 year-old daughter, who is following in her footsteps and currently apprenticing at a separate salon. Mary thought her daughter’s training in the business would be best done outside of her shop.

Thinking back on her early days, she recalls working for a lawyer after studying legal administration but she hated the office atmosphere because it was simply “too boring.”

“This is so much more fun,” she says of her 500 square foot salon. “I get to play around with people’s hair and make them look good and hear all their nasties.”

Had Mary not followed her heart we’d all be the lesser for it.

 

 

 

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