The Perry Barber Shop opened Thursday at 1220 Willis Ave., with owner Sara Smith giving her innaugural haircut to Norton Chayet of Perry.
Smith said she delivered “quality clipper haircuts” at her shop in Knoxville for 10 years, from 2006-2016, and then “thought she wanted to live in the big city” where her new granddaughter and extended family lived and where her church is located.
So she sold her Knoxville shop and lived and worked in Des Moines for 2.5 years before deciding that small-town commerce really was more her style.
“I looked at Waverly,” Smith said, “and I looked at Perry and fell in love with Perry.” When she learned the last of Perry’s barbers, Lenny Stracke, was closing up shop after 43 years, she made the jump.
A ribbon cutting for Perry’s newest beauty business is scheduled for Friday, Nov. 9 at 1 p.m. Smith said she will be open six days a week for walk-in customers. The phone number is 515-238-7807.
