After nearly three decades in business, a Kemptville barber shop has closed its doors.
Cindy’s Barber Shop, located on Prescott Street, has been operating for 28 years but unfortunately, due to COVID-19 they are unable to continue.
The shop officially closed on December 26th, following the provincial shutdown.
Owner Cindy Berube says she’s been considering closing since the pandemic began.
“The 1st of December, I started wondering what was going to happen and I started coming to terms with the fact that I might have to close,” Berube said. “It was hard because I’ve had it for 28 years and it was my baby. So, I finally came to terms with closing it, then they announced another lockdown.”
Berube says the shop suffered during the initial shutdown last year, being closed for over three months, resulting in business going down around 35 percent.
Despite closing down, she’s remaining optimistic for her future.
Berube says she is thankful for the lifetime of memories she was able to experience through her shop.
“There was this little girl one time coming in for a haircut and she was going to see her daddy,” she said. “The parents were separated and she went ‘my daddy’s in jail,’ – and the mother just sat there like ‘oh god,’. So, I just said ‘that’s nice,’ and turned to the mother and told her not to worry about it.”
Berube adds it’s been a good 28-year-run and she has no regrets.
However, she has a soft spot for other small business owners who are dealing with uncertainty.
“There’s a lot of small businesses closing and it is sad, it’s all around,” she said. “I live in Prescott and there’s four businesses downtown that have closed in the last month or two. So, it’s sad because the small businesses are hurting and the big box stores, the Walmart’s and Costco’s – they keep going.”