By the end of the month, Uptown’s Shamrock Barbershop, located at 105 Princess Street, will be the first Saint John barbershop able to serve alcohol to its patrons.
Owner Harry Gorman says his goal when he opened Shamrock three-and-a-half years ago was to bring an upscale grooming experience to clients.
“I was just trying to look at if I was a client and I was walking into a shop and had a checklist of how everything was run,” says Gorman. He adds that Shamrock still does towel shaves with a hot lather machine, along with straight razor shaves.
“We’re trying to continue our craft with what has been going on for years but also keep up in the modern times.”
Uptown’s Shamrock Barbershop’s backroom with antique chair and bar. Image: submitted
Gorman began the process of obtaining a liquor license last October and has been renovating the barbershop’s backroom, adding another barber station and building a small bar. Shamrock Barbershop will serve beer in bottles and cans, along with rum and whisky and, in the future, a craft beer.
“It’s [serving alcohol] never been done in Saint John for a barbershop,” said Gorman. “You can go to a spa or a stylist and they offer alcohol as well, so I was like, why can’t a barbershop do it? I wanted to be the first person to try and do it.”
The bar is in the backroom behind a sliding door, which people over the age of 19 with a license can enter. Minors will be prohibited from accessing the backroom.
“I’m a parent myself so that was the main thing I was concerned about,” he said. “I don’t want to lose my kid clientele or have parents bring their child here and think we’re promoting alcohol or that kids might see something like that here.”
Gorman has seen a lot of change uptown since opening the barbershop. He was once the sole business on Princess Street but now is one of many thriving businesses in the area.
“It’s an old school kind of vibe in here, but in a modern time,” he said. “It’s pretty cool to see the growth in the community on the block.”
This story was originally published in Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
