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‘Barberette’ Linda Guizzo retiring after 41 years at The President Barbershop

The President Barbershop owner Linda Guizzo said that many long-term clients have become ‘like family’ during her 41 years at the shop, which she’s retiring from with a heavy heart

Serving dual purposes as her chosen profession and a means of socialization, it’s with a heavy heart that Linda Guizzo will retire from The President Barbershop after 41 years on April 22. 

“There’s lots of history in here, I tear up when I think about it,” she said earlier this week, throwing a glance at her cozy surroundings within the small shop at the downtown Clarion Hotel.

“That’s what I’m going to miss the most – talking to people. They get free advice and I get free advice. Sometimes they don't ask for it, but I give it anyway.”

The President Barbershop was established in downtown Sudbury’s President Motor Hotel in the mid-'60s. The building is now called the Clarion Hotel, but the barbershop retained its original name in the transition. The shop is located midway down a street-level hallway in the hotel and isn’t something a casual passerby along Elm Street would know is there.

Despite never advertising their inconspicuous business, Guizzo said she and the shop’s previous owners managed to build up a strong client base on positive word of mouth alone. 

Guizzo joined the outfit under its second owner, Salvatore “Tony The Barber” Borello in 1981 following a short stint at a salon. Borello was a judge when she did her barber examinations, took her under his wing and became a mentor and father figure for the young female barber – a self-proclaimed “Barberette.”

“He gave me the chance and I’ve been here ever since,” she said, adding that she worked with him until he left the business for health reasons in 2007. “He taught me everything I know.”

For her first couple weeks as a barber, all she was able to do was sweep up hair, as men didn’t want their hair cut by her because they thought she was a hairdresser. 

“I can’t tell you how that made me feel,” she said. “Tony was a great mentor. He always encouraged me and never let me feel bad.”

As homage to Borello, who died almost two years ago at the age of 81, a caricature of him hangs on the a wall in the shop alongside one of Guizzo, short in stature, struggling to reach the top of a tall client’s head.

Other nicknacks have filled out the space over the past several years, which Guizzo added various personal touches to since taking it over, including model cars her husband, Robert, created. Behind the wheel of one of these cars is a teddy bear gifted to her by a client who recently died as a result of COVID-19. 

Although her ability to cut hair is what brought clients in over the years, Guizzo said that her passion for the job and longevity in the field has more to do with conversation than anything else. 

“When I started working, believe it or not, I was very shy,” she said with a smirk, adding that she was initially so nervous around people that she’d feel physically ill in situations where she had to speak with clients. “It did me a favour to get into this business. Now I talk too much.”

She has known some clients for decades and has a collection of obituaries from those who have died over the years, many of whom she said have been “like family.”

“They know a lot about my life and I know a lot about their lives, bad and good,” she said, adding that there’s an unspoken confidentiality agreement in these conversations similar to that of a doctor-patient relationship. “That’s what I’m going to miss the most – talking to people.”

The COVID-19 pandemic threw a wrench into the business these past couple of years, including Guizzo having to shutter operations for seven months. The public-health crisis has also left a lingering negative impact on new clients’ willingness to be sociable.

“Things changed,” she said, adding that although long-time clients haven’t changed, new clients are typically less prone to socialization and require additional warming up. “People are not as open, or they’re terrified, scared. They’re still paranoid about catching something.”

Despite this newfound challenge, Guizzo still manages to break through with friendly conversion in most cases. 

Some of these new patients include hospital overflow patients from upstairs. As hospital patients, they typically aren’t in the most enviable situation, but Guizzo takes pride in her ability to turn their frowns upside down.

“They come in with long faces and by the time they leave they’re smiling and laughing,” she said, adding that the same could be said for some of the housebound clients she visits.

“That gives me an outing, and you make friends that way too,” she said. “That gives me a purpose and makes me feel good.”

Guizzo’s last day at The President Barbershop is April 22, and she’ll have a lot of goodbyes to say and hugs to exchange between now and when she packs it in.

A month shy of 64 years of age now, Guizzo had always intended to retire at 65, but the hotel’s new owners pushed up the timeline by requesting a rent increase and long-term lease. The rent increase alone would have been fine, but she didn’t want to be handcuffed by a long-term lease at this point in her life. 

A lot of barbers she knows retired when medical ailments forced them to, and she wants to retire “while I can still walk with two legs and do things,” which might include rejoining a slo-pitch team. 

“The mind says yes, I don’t know what the body’s going to do,” she added with a chuckle.

It’s unclear who, if anyone, will take over the barbershop space, but Guizzo said that, as instilled in her by Borello, whoever takes over the space will have to be punctual and reliable. 

As she has learned over the years, the gift of the gab can’t hurt, either. 

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs at Sudbury.com.


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Tyler Clarke

About the Author: Tyler Clarke

Tyler Clarke covers city hall and political affairs for Sudbury.com.
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