Tangiwai Anderson and partner Tyrone Clarke, owners of Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop on Alexandra Street. Photo / Jesse Wood
Tangiwai Anderson and partner Tyrone Clarke, owners of Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop on Alexandra Street. Photo / Jesse Wood
After being cut short by the nationwide Covid-19 alert level 4 lockdown, the family owned Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop has opened on Alexandra St in Te Awamutu.
Tyrone Clark and his partner Tangiwai Anderson opened their business on May 14 as alert level 2 was introduced by the Government.
The originalplan for Cutthroat Brothers was to open on the last weekend of March.
"We didn't think it would go into lockdown. So, when it did it was like, oh what do we do? We couldn't do much though," said Tyrone.
"Lockdown was a hurdle but it ended up being sort of a blessing in disguise because everyone went into hibernation for several weeks and now they all need haircuts."
Everyday has been full with bookings, even after the shop's closing hours.
A look inside Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop. Photo / Supplied
Tyrone works in a team of three barbers alongside his younger brother Rihari and close friend Turongo Mahara.
The road to opening wasn't as simple as that for Tyrone and Tangiwai though with several obstacles along the way.
Originally from the Waipā area, Tyrone and Tangiwai had moved to Brisbane, Australia, where Tyrone had been a barber for more than five years.
"We wanted to come home and knew that the only way to come home would be to start our own business," said Tyrone.
"When we moved back a year ago, we were all set up to open a barbershop. We actually found a spot in Cambridge because we were living over there at the time. That place just took too long because they were trying to get building consent."
Tyrone had to fly back to Brisbane to work and keep the income coming in.
"My mate that I was working for, he was done with his business and offered me the shop for free. He wanted to give it to me if I'd moved back to Australia but I didn't want to.
"It took 12 months to find a decent spot. We'd been looking all over the place. We finally got into it and secured a lease in TA after looking in Cambridge as well."
•The family operated Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop is located at 246 Alexandra St, Te Awamutu. Contact: 021 0260 8398 Facebook: Cutthroat Brothers Barbershop.
