Name of business: Barber Club

Type of business: Barbershop

Location: 132 S. Center St., Turlock

Contact information: 209-489-5358

Hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday, or by appointment

Specialty: Customer service and expertise

History of business:

The owners of Turlock’s newest barbershop are looking to change the game.

Barber Club opened last week in downtown Turlock, ushering in a new culture of men’s hairdressing for the area that focuses on a family-friendly environment catering to the city’s gentlemen, while also providing opportunities for future hairdressers through an apprenticeship academy.

“We’re a barbershop…but we also aren’t. Our aim is a little different,” said Marty Torres, co-owner of Barber Club. “We’re an atypical Central Valley barbershop that offers a blend of classic and modern barbering, and a hairstyling approach that allows us to teach clients how we do hair.”

“We’re trying to create a sanctuary,” said co-owner Valentin Horta. “There’s vulgarity that plagues some barbershops – we’re trying to do the opposite. We want to show our clients that here, we’re a little bit different. We’re not here to gawk at women or cuss at everybody…we’re a little more gentlemanly.”

The chivalrous atmosphere inside Barber Club is accented by the shop’s rustic, modern décor, but the new business in the heart of downtown has been a long time coming, said Horta, who founded the first Barber Club location in Atwater almost four years ago.

Horta always planned on expanding his business, he said, and partnered with Torres to open up a shop in Turlock.

“We just hit it off right off the bat,” said Horta. “We spoke growth, we spoke the same language and I said, ‘Hey man, I’d like to work with you.’”

It took the pair two years of searching before they ultimately decided on Barber Club’s downtown location. Spaces along the city’s main thoroughfares like Golden State Boulevard and Monte Vista Avenue were considered, said Horta, but when a vacancy on downtown’s South Center Street popped up, they jumped on the opportunity.

“Shopping centers, you can find those in any city,” said Horta. “You can’t find something like downtown Turlock anywhere else. I feel like we fit in.”

Since opening its doors, Barber Club has already seen traffic from the downtown area stop into the shop for walk-in appointments, and the location’s apprenticeship academy, directed and instructed by Torres, is already well underway, teaching future barbers the ins and outs of hairdressing.

The academy is a year and a half to two-year program that propels potential barbers into their future careers, courtesy of Torres’ knowledge. After completing 3,200 hours of training, graduates of the program are able to obtain their state barber license. Classes are taught on Sundays, giving students the chance to tend to their personal lives during the week and still have time to work toward their career goals.

In addition to learning proper barbering skills and techniques, students are also taught the importance of treating their customers with kindness.

“The atmosphere is one of the main things we focus on,” said Torres. “We’re not trying to get our clients in and out, we want to treat people like people when they’re here. We slow things down and converse with people, like the old school barbershops before they were plagued with consumerism.”

Apprenticeship Academy student Jose Figueroa has learned a lot from Torres, he said.

“You learn more than just haircutting here,” he said. “I’ve learned how to stay motivated and keep a good mindset, and I’ve learned how to treat people and love our clients first. I’ve learned so much here that I didn’t learn in college.”

Barber Club is still searching for more barbers to fill up space in the shop, said Horta, and those interested may inquire about openings by calling or walking in. In the meantime, Horta, Torres and the shop’s other barbers are focused on providing quality haircare for the community.

“There have been a lot of setbacks, but we did it,” said Horta. “So far, people love it.”