Barber brushed off

Scientific Hair Care has called County Fair Plaza home since the day the mall opened 41 years ago, but last Friday owner Vittorio Cacciatore came to work to a letter asking him to vacate at the end of the month.

With a solid base of regular customers, Cacciatore didn’t understand why they wanted him out.

"Why do I have to move when there’s so many other places to rent?" he said, noting all the dark, empty spaces in the section of mall closest to the Dawson Road entrance.

Cacciatore said he wasn’t given a reason. They told him his lease was up and asked how much longer he wanted to work for.

"That’s up to me," he said. "Why he asked me that, I don’t know."

Business is good and he’s never had any complaints, he said, adding he feels sorry for his staff and his clients have said they don’t want the barber to go anywhere.

"I’ve been retired for 10 years now, but my clientele don’t want me to leave," he said. "That’s why I’m here. It’s not much for money; it’s just for enjoyment. It’s a place to socialize. You have people for 40 years, you have the three generation come up. Kids who were two years old now have grandchildren."

What will happen to the business is still up in the air. Cacciatore said with such short notice, he doesn’t have anything in mind yet.

He added that after 41 years, mall management could have been decent enough to talk to him before serving the eviction notice.

"Especially in a place where most of the stores are gone," he said.

Betty Ann Lundquist, owner of Items Galore Plus More just down the hall from Scientific Hair Care said she wishes the barbershop was staying because "they’re a good crew down there."

"I don’t understand why they would evict somebody who has been here that long. They’ve been here since day one when Zellers and the mall all opened and I’m not impressed with the way they did their notice," she said.

Lundquist will be closing up shop herself at the end of the month; she chose to leave on her own and cut her losses after Quality Market couldn’t renegotiate their lease and left the mall. With the grocery store went 90 per cent of her business.

"I think management in this mall sucks," she said. "Right from day one I’ve felt that. I have to admit they’ve been fairly fair with me, but I saw how they treated (other stores)."

Lundquist said she was paying the same amount as a store across from her that was only a third the size of her space. The owner asked for a decrease in his rent and was flat out refused by management and told to go.

"Like I said, management sucks here," she said.

She’s not sure what management could be planning for all the empty space in that end of the mall, but once her store and Scientific Hair Care are gone, all that will be left in that section is Zellers, the Bank of Montreal and Shoppers Drug Mart.

"It’s a big concern for anybody who is left in this mall," Lundquist said. "I don’t think anybody who is trying to make a living with a small business stands a chance if they treat people like (Scientific Hair Care) after 41 years."

County Fair management could not be reached for comment.