There’s something reassuring about stepping into Don’s Barber Shop. It evokes memories of a simpler time when customers would stop in for the conversation as well as the haircut.
There’s the traditional rotating barber pole. Cleveland Browns memorabilia hangs on one wall – a nod to the current owner’s Ohio roots. Near the door, a framed newspaper article from the early 1960s features a photo of Don Brown as a young barber.
And sitting below that, the man himself, the founder of this Ponte Vedra landmark located off Solana Road in the Winn-Dixie plaza.
“We’ve done well here,” he says, thinking over the 31 years since he opened the shop. “We’ve done really well.”
Brown recently retired after 59 years of barbering, having sold the business to Raquel Turnbull, a third-generation master barber who has spent two of her 25 years in the profession working for Brown.
Despite this change in ownership and some cosmetic touches, longtime customers will still find the familiar, homey atmosphere firmly established by Brown.
“His presence will always be known in here,” said Turnbull. “It’s an iconic spot.”
A Family Business
Brown was working at Florida Steel in 1962 when he decided he needed a change. He came home after work one night and told his wife, “I’m checking out. I’ve got to get a different job.”
Ann Brown, whom he’d married two years earlier, suggested he attend barber school. It was something he’d considered in the past, so he did just that, finishing up in December of the same year.
He began his first job in January 1963 in the Seaboard Coastline Railroad Building – now the CSX Transportation Building – in downtown Jacksonville. He bought the shop in 1967 and worked there until 1979, arguably one of the toughest eras to be a barber; men were wearing their hair longer and visiting their barbers less frequently.
But Brown wasn’t about to give up.
“I went to hair-styling school,” he said. “I learned how to cut hair different ways.”
During this time, he distinguished himself, winning second in the state in a hair-cutting contest on July 20, 1969. If the date sounds familiar, it was the same day Neil Armstrong first set foot on the moon.
Brown sold his shop to one of his employees in 1979 and opened another in Jacksonville Beach. He added a second one and shared the business with his wife, who by then was working as a cosmetologist.
In addition, their daughter Shirley – who became a licensed barber at 14 – went to work for him in 1981, making it a true family business.
Retirement
In 1990, Brown opened his Ponte Vedra shop and eventually sold the others. He was joined here by his daughter. Then, about 20 years ago, Ann Brown made the transition from cosmetologist to barber and joined the shop, too.
Over the years, Brown has cut the hair of Jacksonville Jaguars Mark Brunell and Tony Boselli, golfing great Rocco Mediate and others. Some of his customers have been with him since the 1960s. And he has cut their children’s and grandchildren’s hair, as well.
After so many years, he made the difficult decision to retire, and on March 10 sold his shop to Turnbull.
Retirement will give the Browns a chance to spend time with their two grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren, though Ann Brown will continue to cut hair for her regular customers. Daughter Shirley Dutcher will also continue to work at the shop.
Don Brown hasn’t got a lot of big plans but suggested that he just might return to the shop and work.
“You miss the people,” Ann Brown said. “You get to where they’re more friends than they are just customers walking in the door.”
New Owner
Turnbull graduated from the Akron Barber College in 1995 and is a third-generation barber. She knew she would have to prove herself in the male-dominated field with her skills, talent and professionalism and has succeeded in doing so.
“Men want three things in choosing a barber,” she said, “consistency, convenience and confidentiality.”
Arriving in Jacksonville, she visited a couple hundred shops before finding Don’s Barber Shop.
“The Brown family welcomed me with open arms and were happy to add me to their staff of barbers,” she said.
She refers to her profession as “a calling” and enjoys talking to her customers and hearing their stories. She said barbers take the time to learn their customers’ names and relationships and what’s going on with their families.
In fact, Turnbull calls barbering “one of the last interpersonal communication professions.”
“I am honored and proud to carry on the tradition of Don’s Barber Shop,” she said. “I give all the glory to God, and I am so thankful to be a part of the Ponte Vedra community.”
