Miedziak will continue barbershop’s tradition

After three decades away from his hometown, George Miedziak has returned.  On Feb. 5 Miedziak opened Head Quarters, his barbershop at 542 Hewett Street.  The shop is still owned by Merlyn Kroll, who retired this week.

"I’ve always wanted to get back," Miedziak said Monday as he prepared for Tuesday’s opening.  Last December he closed his Grafton shop and made the move back to Neillsville, something that had been in the works for about four years.

Barbering was not his first career choice, said Miedziak, who enrolled at UW-Stevens Point and later at Eau Claire Technical College to study computers.

According to Miedziak, males entering the barbering trade are few and far between, with the change in licensing from barber to cosmetologist in the 1980’s.

When he began, Miedziak said, it took four years to go from student to professional barber.  It began with nine months as a student, eight hours of class each day and a half-day to work on customers.

After nine months, the apprentice stage began with the prospective barber attending school one day a week and learning to do haircuts and shaves the rest of the week. This stage lasted for 15 months.

As a journeyman, a young man had to work in a shop for one year.  After completing that tenure, Miedziak said he took a final exam in front of a licensing board.  To be licensed, a prospective barber had to demonstrate his ability to give a haircut, a facial massage and a shave.

After completing this training, one could work anywhere in the state providing the shop, had a shop manager.  A barber could go on to further training in business matters if he wanted to run his own shop, he said.

In 1972, Miedziak took a job in West Allis at Razor’s Edge.  He later moved to Grafton and opened his own shop.

Miedziak always worked in a small shop and liked it, so he was glad to return to Neillsville, currently home to two barbershops.  Though many customers in larger cities like franchise hair salons, there will always be a place for a small shop.

The old-fashioned barbershop does have a certain mystique, he said.  "People kind of like the atmosphere," he said of the small, one-chair shops that are quickly becoming a rarity these days.

Head Quarters will be open Tuesday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.  Kroll will continue to cut hair on Mondays.

A barber for 35 years, George Miedziak opened his shop,

Head Quarters, in the former Mabie’s Barbershop last week.