Tijuana's big growth industry? Barbershops, with 100 opening in three years

By Phillip Molnar, Alejandro Tamayo

Aug. 17, 2017 3 AM PT

Reporting from TIJUANA — Hidden a few blocks away from Tijuana’s main thoroughfare, an old warehouse has become a cultural landmark for the city’s fashion-conscious men.

Wings painted outside the building are the only indication something is different about the space, most recently used as a gym. Inside, a Drake song blasts over stand-up speakers, the smell of aftershave fills the air and scissors snap over men in antique barber chairs.

The space is home to one of Tijuana’s rising social media stars, 30-year-old barber Edgar Buena, better known as Don Edgar. Using Facebook, he has cultivated a following with instructional videos on men’s grooming aimed at a new generation of Mexican men.

Edgar who dresses intentionally like an old-time barber — handlebar mustache, gray-rimmed glasses, bow tie and suspenders — said his customers no longer scoff at spending money on their looks.

“Men enjoy how they look and take better care of themselves now,” he said.

Don Edgar Barberia is one of more than 100 barbershops that have opened in Tijuana in the last three years, mirroring growth in the men’s grooming industry in the United States and Europe.

Tijuana had roughly 50 to 80 barbershops in 2013 but now has more than 150, said the city’s economic development office.

Retail experts say going to a barbershop is a way of projecting masculinity, but there are other factors that attract clients: nostalgia, bargain prices, access to beard products and increased amenities offered by barbers.

Ruben Chavarria, 40, a machinist in San Diego who lives in Tijuana, used to get his haircut in San Diego now but goes to Don Edgar Barberia once a week.

Chavarria’s girlfriend, 30-year-old Nallely Preciado, sat at a cafe in the same space rented by Don Edgar, sipping coffee and surfing Instagram. She goes to a salon every two months but doesn’t mind her boyfriend getting groomed weekly. “It’s the trend right now,” she said. “And it [the haircut] looks good on him.”

The big rage in all of Tijuana, though, is beards and that has led to another trend: beard tinting. Cali Cuts, which has four locations in the city and one in Mexicali, uses a black wax that stains the skin to make a beard look more full, for about $11.

The treatment works so well, it seems like magic and is offered at most Tijuana barbershops — even if the results last only a day.

Miguel “Robo” Angel Gomez, 39, is a master barber at Cali Cuts with more than 10 years of experience tinting beards. He loves his job, he says, because having their beards tinted and trimmed brings joy to his clients.

“That look on your face,” he said to a client. “That’s why I do this.”

Gomez said a high-end barber in Tijuana could earn up to $27,000 a year. It might seem a small sum compared with San Diego wages, but that’s more than the average pay of a Tijuana police officer.

Although barbershop owners in Tijuana say Americans and tourists are not shy about going to their establishments, there might not be much of a recourse for a bad cut. In Mexico, barbers have no governing body or requirement for a license, unlike their neighbors to the north.

In California, the state Department of Consumer Affairs governs barbers by issuing licenses, overseeing exams, taking complaints, doing inspections and issuing citations. In the first three months of this year, 273 barbers were issued citations and 3,603 inspections conducted.

A bad cut in Tijuana, or injury, could be reported to its consumer protection agency, Procuraduria Federal del Consumidor, or PROFECO. Still, Don Edgar said the next step for the industry will be some sort of certification program because complaints about bad cuts from untrained barbers are detrimental to everyone.

At Noble & Fine in Playas de Tijuana, owner Sergio Alberto Madero proudly declares his barbers are self-taught. Regardless of potential American sensibilities about a lack of training, residents of Playas can’t get enough.

Jeanette Arreola has been taking her sons, Gian, 9, and Andre, 4, to Noble & Fine since it opened in November. She said that previously, she would take them to the salon with her, but Gian has insisted he will go only to Noble & Fine.

“I want to look like [Cristiano] Ronaldo,” Gian said of the Real Madrid soccer player.

One of Noble & Fine’s most seasoned barbers, 45-year-old Edward Avila, has been at his craft for 28 years. When he was deported from the United States 15 years ago, he worried he would not be able to support his four children.

He said it was rough making ends meet for many years, but the recent demand for barbers has been a lifeline financially.

“I worried a lot,” Avila said of when he was deported. “I thought, ‘Wow, how am I going to make it without a U.S. job?’”

While the Tijuana government is aware of the increased popularity of barbershops, the focus remains on aerospace and electronic companies in the city, said Javier Michel Payan Mendez, a Tijuana economic promotion director.

Mendez also happens to own a high-end barbershop.

To read the article in Spanish, click here

Molnar and Tamayo write for the San Diego Union-Tribune.

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