When Nicolas Nicola closes up Spiro’s Barber Shop at the end of the day today, part of the 78-year-old’s life — not just a business — will be left behind.
“The shop kind of is him to some extent,” Nicolas’ son Demetres Nicola said. “It brings him so much joy and so much value.”
For 47 years, Nicolas has been “The Barber of East Fourth Street,” one that generations of customers recognize and are loyal to. Even now, Nicolas said, four old-timers from the early days are still alive and coming to him for haircuts.
“In Long Beach, he’s really established himself as a personality that a lot of people know,” Demetres said. “ … The neighborhood has kind of grown around him.”
Nicolas now must leave that neighborhood. Earlier this year, he received a 30-day notice from his landlord. While there was never a clear explanation provided, the Nicola family said it’s rumored the building is being cleared out for new construction or renovation. They’ve said they’ve been grateful that the landlord has been sympathetic to them, allowing them to stay open months past the original deadline.
But after Saturday, Sept. 28, Nicolas will move on, shuttering Spiro’s Barber Shop at 2438 E. 4th St. and instead cutting hair at a salon on Broadway.
“On the one hand, it’s a bummer, but that also comes with gratitude for everything that it’s given us and him,” Demetres said.
Nicolas’ business became a symbol of his journey to the United States and the life he made here.
“The shop kind of means everything. It’s what he’s built,” Demetres said.
Originally from the Eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, Nicolas moved to England when he was only 15. He quickly started working long days trying to get ahead.
“From 9 to 6, I would work as a barber, and after 6, I was washing dishes in a restaurant because they gave me a room and dinner to eat,” Nicolas said.
After a few more years, Nicolas said he met his wife and moved from Birmingham to London to build a family. There, Nicolas opened a Greek restaurant.
“We got successful, very good, but it was always my dream to come to the United States of America,” Nicolas said.
So, he did just that. Nicolas followed his dreams and moved to Anaheim.
“To change from one country to another is not easy,” Nicolas said. “Everything sounds very good, but after you come here, it is a different story.”
It took him months to adjust, he said. In the meantime, many people weighed in with advice, often urging him go to school.
“I had a family, I couldn’t afford to go to school,” Nicolas said.
Instead, he focused on studying for his barber’s license test. These six months were busy, as he juggled seven days of work and a family.
“I was working two days in the gas station, two days as a barber in Los Angeles and three days manufacturing and cutting women’s dresses,” Nicolas said. “In between those days, I keep reading and trying to get my public license.”
Once Nicolas obtained his license and started saying he was a barber, a Long Beach shop owner sought him out.
“He came and he knocked on my door, and he says, ‘I hear you are a barber, and you just got your license. I have a barbershop in Long Beach,’” Nicolas said.
Nicolas said the owner’s barber had moved back home, and he was looking for someone to take over the business. What sold Nicolas was the shorter commute from Anaheim to Long Beach.
Business started slow, without the foot traffic he was used to in Europe, Nicolas said, but one thing that helped keep his business alive was his commitment to consistency.
“I stay here so many days, I make a good living, I support my family, I buy a house, I don’t have any mortgages, so I’m happy,” Nicolas said.
After the radical change of moving across the world, the shop became a source of stability.
“The barbershop was a safe place,” son Demetres said. “He sort of built the family around himself through all those customers, and not only the clients, but the family of the clients and then the kids of the clients.”
Nicolas said while the present may be hard, planning for the future will make you appreciate your work.
“Always, you have to look for not only today. You have to look for tomorrow, for next week, for next year, for your future for yourself and your family and your kids,” Nicolas said.
Even now, he’s looking ahead.
After pouring decades of his life into his shop, Nicolas is not entirely ready to move on. While he was planning to retire soon, he has decided that this year isn’t his time yet.
He will move to another location to keep working, just for a limited amount of days. He begins working Oct. 1 at his new location at JW Goodson’s Salon on E. Broadway.
But first, he’ll celebrate. On Sept. 30, his longtime clients and family plan to gather and honor him and his career.