There’s a new barber in town! A Newry man has brought a fresh ‘buzz’ to Scotch Street with the opening of his second location.
Aaron Campbell, originally started out hairdressing fresh from school but soon found out where his passion really lay… in barbering.
Working in the barbering industry for over 12 years, Aaron worked under the guidance of a popular Newry salon before taking the leap to go out on his own.
His first business venture, AC Male Grooming, was located on Francis Street in Newry and opened in 2016.
After a successful seven years in Newry, Aaron is now ready for his next challenge and is keen to “improve the male grooming industry” by bringing AC Male Grooming to Armagh’s high street.
Speaking to Armagh I, the stylist explained: “Whenever I first started out, I was by myself and the main thing was just to get the business up and running.
“Then over the years, we just built on the business and grew with more barbers. The goal in Newry was always to have myself and three other lads working with me so once I got to that stage I was happy and could think about more growth plans.
“It’s been a thought for a few years about branching out. At first I thought about opening a second location in Newry but after doing some research, I really felt there was a gap in the market for luxury male grooming in Armagh and decided to take the plunge.
“We want to take our quality of grooming to here [Armagh], it’s a great city and deserves to have a proper male grooming salon.”
When first visiting Armagh, Aaron originally had his eye on a different premises, but it didn’t have quite the right layout he needed.
Just as his hopes dwindled, he noticed a vacant premises just a few doors up… a former hairdressing salon which extended far beyond the pavement and provided ample space – and plug sockets! – for his barbering stations.
Based in the former COPA salon on Scotch Street, Aaron and his team have been working tirelessly the past few weeks to get the barbershop open before the Christmas rush… and they are officially ready to get snipping!
The premises has four barbering stations with room to fit more stations in the future.
Aaron – who plans on working between both barber shops – has a team of seven barbers working alongside him.
Male grooming services include: haircut, skin face, beard cut, colouring.
With the focus currently on getting the business up and running, Aaron already has exciting plans in the pipeline, hoping to offer hair systems and education training. He also hopes to offer male luxury treatments including facials in the future.
In Armagh, they are currently operating a walk-in system and, in Newry the barbers will continue to operate under appointment only.
With doors only opened this month, Aaron has already successfully gained himself a steady clientele base built on word of mouth!
With plenty of experience behind the clippers, Aaron is up-to-date with all the latest trends.
He said: “Long hair has really made a come back in the last year or two so our most popular cut is defiantly a ‘burst fade’. It’s the ideal cut for someone looking to try out a mullet but unsure of whether to fully commit to the growth and then extreme cut.”
With Christmas just around the corner, why not give a practical gift to the man in your life! Gift vouchers are available to purchase in-store – a gift you know he will use!
AC Male Grooming also offer a range of gift sets instore which include all the at home products to get your hair looking fresh. Gift sets include wax, gels, texture spray, powder and much more.
Click here to check out AC Male Grooming on Instagram
Click here to view their website
