Louisville barber takes the show on the road with BuzzBox

LOUISVILLE — It’s noon. You’re sitting at your desk slammed with work, thinking ahead to 7 p.m.

You’ve got a big date that you’ve been looking forward to all week. One problem: Your hair is out of control, and not in a cute, shabby-chic kind of way. You’re too busy at the office to sneak out for a haircut and you’re feeling distraught. That’s when you look out the window and see a boxy trailer pull into the parking lot. You breathe a sigh of relief.

BuzzBox, a new mobile barbershop concept developed by local barber Anthony Full, is designed to address just this type of dilemma.

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Full, who has been cutting hair for 40 years and owns Rock Barbers on Dillon Road in Louisville, has retrofitted a pair of 150-square-foot trailers designed to haul motorcycles or ATVs to serve as barbershops on wheels. The BuzzBoxes set up shop in front of office buildings to provide cuts to busy professionals, both women and men.

“So many people come from corporate offices to the barbershop, so we thought, ‘Why not take the barbershop to them?’” Full said. “It’s about convenience and time savings. We’re looking for ways to disrupt the industry and create a new paradigm for how people get haircuts.”

The trailers, which are powered by generators, are equipped with all the tools necessary for a standard haircut: barber chairs, lighting, mirrors, shelving, styling tools, heating and air conditioning.

“The idea that you can just take a few steps out the door of your office and into the BuzzBox is compelling because it’s easy,” Full said.

Not only is an onsite haircut convenient for employees, it is a productivity booster for employers, Full said. It can also help employers recruit talent in a tight labor market where job seekers are looking for companies to differentiate themselves.

BuzzBox works with employers to get their blessing before bringing the mobile shop to an office building. Existing clients include Trimble, Fresca Foods, Ball Corp., and Studio Shed.

Currently, employees pay for their own haircuts — $20 for a half-hour cut — but Full said as the business evolves companies will be able to contract directly with BuzzBox to provide company-bought cuts as a fringe benefit.

As with any new business concept, it takes a little while to build customer trust. That’s especially the case when the business is providing a service that impacts the way you look.

“It’s not like just trying a new place for lunch. There’s a bigger risk involved with getting a haircut,” Full said. “Every time we pull up to a new office, it’s like the Life cereal commercial: Someone has to be Mikey and try it first — it’s always pretty funny.”

BuzzBox operates its two mobile barbershops throughout Broomfield and Boulder counties. Full expects to expand in the near future.

“We’re looking to add more places; we’re looking to add more stylists and barbers,” he said. “… In the next year, we’d like to have three more trailers for a total of five. In two years, we’d like to have between 10 and 20.”

Full said BuzzBox is not limited to giving haircuts in corporate office parks.

“We haven’t even started tapping into these other opportunities like farmer’s market, sporting events, really anywhere that people gather,” he said.