In 1966, a 20-year-old Sicilian immigrant to Canada named Tony Picciotto put up his first barber light, going into business with his friend Joe Lanza. That was almost 50 years ago, and the business is still there.
Coiffure Pour Hommes has been in the Galeries des Sources since it opened. Back then, the area was completely different, Picciotto said.
“It was a small place at the time.”
The barbershop started out with two barbers — Lanza and Picciotto — and grew to span three generations and include nine people, most of them related somehow.
“I’m here for another generation. We’ve got a great staff,” Santino Lanza, son of the co-founder, said. Lanza has daughters but says he can easily envision his children becoming part of the family business.
Styles have changed over the years and the barbers at the shop have seen almost everything.
“I remember when I first started here,” said Bruno Trimarchi, who started in the late 80s. “The craziest haircut was the mushroom haircut. It was the worst haircut ever.”
The shop plans to commemorate 50 years in business on Oct. 9 with some sort of public celebration.