Photos by Brian Addison.

Isa Rached calls it a “barber salon.”

“We’re the opposite of a salon in that we’re a barbershop, but it has the feel of a salon for men who go to barbershops,” Rached said. “We also take care of the ladies—they’re always welcomed—but our focus is men. We’re trying to bring back that attention to detail and services that older barbershops used to provide.”

Amid intricate antique casings and couches, shamelessly ostentatious in the best way possible, The B Room sits at 209 Long Beach Blvd. along the bottom floor of the Pacific Southwest Building. And it hopes to bring to life what will formally be Long Beach’s first barber salon.

Rached comes from a bit more rural beginnings, having moved the business from Beaumont, a small city in Riverside County of around 30,000 people. Nestled at the nexus of the 10 and 60 freeways, it is where they still have their self-described ma’n’pa shop that inspired the Long Beach-based B Room.

The business, a family venture owned by Rached, his mother, and his sister, was a small stepping stone for Rached’s larger dream once he “met the love of [his] life and rushed to Long Beach.”

“We had this idea of the shop,” Rached said. “Even before we had any furniture or anything—then the chairs came about… A guy had come to our old store and said he needed to sell these chairs and we were in awe. We had never seen anything like it.”

These chairs, two specifically, are the first things that will catch the eye of patrons upon entry; beautiful, plush, red velvet Ernest Koken-designed barber chairs, one with a Koken Kandle towel holder, more straight-lined in design, and another with a round back and seat, both with gorgeous wood and gold detailing. It was scoring these two antiques that pushed Rached and family toward their first major step in creating The B Room.

Gallivanting throughout SoCal—from Redlands to Los Angeles, Long Beach to Riverside—Rached found more and more pieces that began to make his dream more tangible.

Once centerpieces and decorations began piling up, the need for a physical space became more urgent. Looking throughout Long Beach, they somewhat stumbled upon their current location. At first looking at a location a bit south toward Ocean, the back-and-forth that occurred for three months added up to little more than time wasted and exorbitant price tags. Their current space, much bigger than expected but not up to the quality needed, required some TLC—they had to rip practically everything out to make way for The B Room—but proved to be the home they were looking for.

Installing new floors, adding new paint, and rearranging the space, The B Room has become precisely what Rached had hoped it would be: a luxurious, old-school barbershop—currently made more festive with holiday music and hints of decorations to welcome the public to their official grand opening this Saturday, December 6.

With craft beer provided by Downtown’s Public Beer and Wine Shop and some grub from neighboring Doly’s Delectables, the grand opening will begin at 5:00PM.

The B Room is located at 209 Long Beach Blvd. in the Pacific Southwest Building.

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