Jackson Free Press

Until recently, I had not been in a barbershop in nearly 10 years. I have always been a bit lackadaisical when it comes to my hair. For starters, I have one of those "woke up underneath a van at a Phish show" kind of beards that seems to have a life of its own, with no hope of containment. Second, since I have been old enough to pay for my haircuts, I haven't. My best friend cut my hair for years, and my wife took over the duties for the past five. Needless to say, not paying for a haircut has taken precedence over how my hair actually looks.

All this changed on a sunny Saturday afternoon at Razor Sharp Barber Shop in Jackson when I went in to get my first real cut in a decade. On this particular day, the shop was full of people getting their hair cut, in addition to a steady stream of men and boys of all ages waiting for their turn.

"It's usually like this on Saturday," owner Percy Higgins says. "Everybody wants to look good for the weekend."

Higgins uses a restaurant analogy to explain the Razor Sharp ethos: "Sure, you can go to Pizza Hut and get a cheap pizza real quick, but some folks would rather go to Sal & Mookie's for the quality and service."

My haircut began with Higgins shaping me up with the electric razor. By the time he was done with this step, my head already looked better than it had since my seventh-grade yearbook picture. After the clipper work, Higgins lathered up my entire hairline with warm shaving cream and used a straight razor to cut razor sharp lines all the way around my head, even masterfully fading my hair into my unwieldy beard. It is this attention to detail that Higgins believes sets his shop apart from some of the other shops he has been in.

The warm shaving cream and straight razors are a throwback to classic methods. "This razor-line technique has been passed down from generation to generation. We try to mix the quality of old with a modern style," Higgins says.

The barber-entrepreneur opened Razor Sharp Jan. 17, 2006. Originally, the shop was located on Highway 18 in the old Pizza Hut building. The summer of 2007, Higgins moved the shop to 405-A Beasley Road, which proved to be a far more ideal location.

"When we were on Highway 18, no one could see us from the street," Higgins says. "Now we are surrounded by apartment buildings and other businesses on a road that connects right to the interstate."

Apart from customers that come from all over Jackson and the suburbs, Higgins says he has regulars who come in at least once a month from as far away as Houston and Atlanta. They come to Razor Sharp for the precision razor lines, the shop's signature style. To Higgins, the razor line is "a lost art."

"In this fast-paced society, time is limited," he says. "Many barbers don't take the time to do what we do, because time is money. We take a little extra time to produce a quality haircut. If you give your customers quality, they'll keep coming back."

Higgins continues this passing-down tradition at his shop. He personally trains all the barbers who work in his shop in the razor-line method, so the technique is practiced evenly throughout the shop. Like most barbershops, Higgins owns the business and provides space in the shop for other barbers to work.

"Most owners," Higgins says, "just provide the building and collect their rent at the end of the month." Higgins, on the other hand, holds meetings with his barbers regularly "so we all have a common understanding and vision." He also provides training, advertising and supplies.

"I run the business openly with them," he says. "They are a part of the decision-making process. I am training them to one day run their own business or my next business. I empower them; they leave here with a skill they can eat off of anywhere they go."

Stepping away from a steady pace of the grade-schoolers that make up his regular Saturday clientele, Henry Hankins tells me Razor Sharp is a "good experience to start with," adding, "The environment and service make it different than any place I have ever worked. We are like a team, growing the business together."

Hankins has been with Razor Sharp for about three years. In fact, most of the barbers here have been with Razor Sharp for three or more years. That is key for Higgins. "We treat this like a profession, not just a hobby or hustle. We are trying to take this to the next level," he says.