Barber shop changes hands

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- Joe Armeni spent much of last week breaking the news of his retirement to his longtime, loyal customers. Rich Whited hopes he'll soon gain their trust.
Armeni, 76, sold his barbershop at 1717 East State St. to Whited, a 53-year-old Canfield barber who grew up on Youngstown's South Side.
"I thought maybe I'd work a few more years," Armeni said. "I had to sleep on it about a week, but I decided he'd made me an offer I'd never get again."
Reactions: Armeni said his customers have been disappointed, understanding and somewhat shocked by the news. His last day was Saturday.
"I haven't quite known how to tell them," Armeni said. "I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of calls after this is in the paper."
One such customer shocked by Armeni's news was Dan Babb of Salem, who stopped in one day last week, as he has for more than 40 years.
A rapid-fire round of good-natured ribbing between Armeni and Babb began the moment Babb entered the shop.
"Well, get over here and sit down," Armeni finally told an unsuspecting Babb. "This is the last cut you're getting from me anyway."
"What do you mean?" Babb said. "You're quitting?"
"Yep, Saturday," Armeni said, and began cutting Babb's hair. "The new barber will be in here Tuesday."
Babb squirmed in the barber chair, his brow furrowed with worry.
"Now how will this new guy know -- what will I tell him [about] how to cut my hair?"
"Medium, don't buzz it," Armeni said. "Don't worry. He's cut all kinds of hair."
Learned in Army: A second-generation American, Armeni, a Salem native, learned barbering in the U.S. Army after enlisting during the Korean War.
Armeni earned the rank of sergeant in just 18 months, and spent the Korean War based at Fort Bragg, N.C., as a member of the 82nd Airborne. After his discharge in 1953, he went to barber school on the G.I. bill.
He met and soon married his wife, Rosemarie Ieropoli of Lisbon, and started barbering in Salem. They reared four sons.
A wonderful life: "I didn't have any money, but I didn't care," he said. "It has been wonderful. We're not rich, but we'll make it. We've been married 47 years. Maybe we'll get to 50. Then we'll celebrate."
Whited, who lives in Boardman, went to barber school after losing his Youngstown Sheet and Tube job in 1977. He's divorced and has two grown sons.
He has worked at several locations in the Boardman and Canfield area.
Whited began barbering when men wore their hair long and wanted it cut and styled. Armeni nearly quit barbering because of that trend.
Armeni said many of his customers work at the General Motors Assembly Plant in Lordstown.
"I could have been working there," Armeni said. "When they [men] all wanted those long cuts, I almost quit. I thought of applying at Lordstown. But I took a couple other part-time jobs, and made it through."
Whited takes over Armeni's shop Tuesday. He said he heard through the grapevine Armeni was close to retirement, and as Armeni put it, "He began working on me about six months ago."
Whited said former Youngstown State University and now Ohio State University football head Coach Jim Tressel was among his loyal clientelle.
"He's a great guy, a class act," Whited said. He was happy to see Tressel get the OSU job, and beat Michigan.
"He'll be the best coach in the history of OSU, you watch and see," he said.
Now Whited has the task of making the transition to Salem. He said he was attracted to the small-town atmosphere and the good location of Armeni's shop.
"This is the place to be," he said.
Key to good business: Dealing with people is the key to good business, both men agreed.
"I never had any formal training or anything, but you have to be a psychologist," Armeni said. "Some people come in and they want to tell you everything. Others don't want you to talk to them at all."
There is, indeed, much more to barbering than giving haircuts, both men said. Perhaps the late comedian George Burns agreed, as evidenced by a quote from him nestled among the sports photos and yellowed newspaper clippings on the walls of Armeni's shop:
"It's too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair."