A visit at the FOXHOLE

Continuing on the Barbershop tour on Wellington, the FOXHOLE had made my destination list.  Tonight turned out to be the night where I could pay them a visit.

1206 Wellington Street West
Ottawa, ON
K1Y 2Z7

This Barbershop, as its name indicates, has two personalities; it’s a barbershop and it’s a shop.  The front of the space is laid out as a store where you can pick up items of clothing and accessories.  On the right is the reception along with a good selection of grooming products.  The main brands offered here are: Uppercut Deluxe from Australia, Baxter of California and GROOM from Montreal.  In the middle of the shop is a stylish lounging area. And finally in the back is the Barbershop area.

Contrary to many of the shop I have featured so far, the FOXHOLE does not present itself as a traditional barbershop.  In other words, you won’t be feeling that time warp to the 1940’s – 1950’s.  Many of the furniture pieces are vintage or look as such, but perhaps from the 1960’s – 1970’s period.  It is very tastefully done and clearly the place has a cachet all of its own.  In fact, it is a rather rare find in Ottawa.  I certainly felt like I might be in a cool shop on St. Denis Street in Montreal or on Quest Street West in Toronto.

The barbershop section had 4 Barbers who were all at work with more patrons coming while I was taking pictures.  As mentioned in my post covering the Crows Nest, Wellington Street has real pedestrian life with people enjoying the neighborhood lifestyle.  To me, a street where people walk and shop is a true indicator of a vivid urban life.

What I liked about the place was that it wasn’t trying to look like other shops or just to be another barbershop.  Based on the overall look and feel of the place, you might think that this is more of a “Hair Salon” than Barbershop, but NO.  The FOXHOLE offers that one very distinctive service that Hair Salons do not offer: the “shave”.

While chatting with Lucca (one of the partners), I was made aware of the ownership / business model.  Lucca comes from a retail background thus the front portion of the business and he has joined forces with 2 of the Barbers working in the “cutting” area who complete the partnership.

In closing, the FOXHOLE has a healthy dose of cool and is certainly worth stopping in to restock on pomade, get a pair of jeans or refresh that undercut. Come to think of it, I might have to go back as I am out of Uppercut Deluxe pomade and have also been looking for a nice winter fleece shirt.