Oakley’s Barber Shop is a blend of the modern and the
old-fashioned, the trendy and the classic, the fast-paced life of
the city and the comfort of the family.
The barbershop has been a stronghold in Westwood for 75 years
““ in fact, it’s the oldest business in the Village.
The shop has been in three locations since it first opened July
7, 1929, but it has managed to maintain the legacy of service and
the warm environment that has always been a priority in the Oakley
family.
Larry Oakley, the current owner, is the fourth of the Oakleys to
own the shop. His grandfather, Esra Oakley, owned a barbershop in
Utah, and it was his uncle, Bert Oakley, who first opened up in
Westwood in 1929. Larry’s father, Jim Oakley joined him in
1930.
By that time, the UCLA campus had recently moved from downtown
Los Angeles to its current location, and there were few haircutting
and beauty services in the area.
Store manager Clinton Schudy said that when the store moved,
there were only a few streets in the Village and rent was offered
free for the first six months just for taking the gamble to move
into the untapped area.
“It took two or three years before they had any business
at all,” Oakley said. “Westwood was a sleepy little
town and UCLA only had 7,000 or 8,000 students.”
Eventually, the campus began to provide Oakley’s with
business and soon other businesses were moving into Westwood.
Elton Hsu, a fifth-year psychology student, has been going to
Oakley’s for his haircuts since his second year at UCLA. He
visited several other shops, but eventually settled with
Oakley’s.
“The environment is friendly and they pay attention to
detail,” Hsu said.
The shop not only offered haircuts when it opened, but other
services as well, and they have continued that legacy today. With
everything from haircuts to manicures, shoe shines, coloring,
special-occasion styling and waxing, the shop’s goal is to be
a convenient single stop for men’s and women’s beauty
needs.
“Our goal is to offer more services,” Schudy said.
“People don’t need to go to different locations for all
of the different services.”
Sally Olmos joined the team two years ago with expertise not
only in styling and haircuts, but in makeup and waxing as well.
“I worked for an upscale salon before but here it is much
more relaxed,” Olmos said. “I have a good clientele and
I love the people here.”
Oakley’s has had two other locations since its opening,
but it has been in its current building on Gayley since 1957.
Oakley opened the Gayley shop on his own while his father continued
business at the other location on Broxton.
For some time, Oakley said, only higher quality stores such as
Sears Roebuck and JC Penney were allowed to come to Westwood. But
the Village has begun to go downhill with the number of “mom
and pop” shops continually starting up and quitting the area,
he said.
“Businesses that came were ones that would stay here for
quite a while. People now don’t really know how to run a
business; times have changed,” Oakley said.
The barbershop continued to do well with a consistent clientele
from the campus as well as celebrities such as tennis player Jack
Kramer, whose hair Oakley has cut for 52 years. Other customers
have included Humphrey Bogart, Shirley Temple and her father and
comedian Red Skelton.
But in the 1960s, business slowed down with the hippie movement
and its trend of having increasingly long hair.
As a result, Oakley’s father’s shop closed down in
1972 and joined forces with the one on Gayley.
“It was rough times with the long-hair period. We were
skimping and saving, and I had three children,” Oakley
said.
During the civil rights movement of the 1960s, Oakley’s
became involved in controversy when they turned away black
students. Though some students perceived this to be discrimination,
Oakley has recently said the barbers at the time simply did not
know how to cut the hair of black students.
Oakley’s survived and continued to change with the times,
as many of Oakley’s barbers had to return to school to learn
styling beyond the traditional short barbershop cut.
Albert Duran started working at Oakley’s in 1978 and has
seen many trends come and go through the years.
“We always have to look at magazines and go to the
workshops and conferences. You have to keep up with the
trends,” Duran said.
Over the past five years, the Gayley shop underwent a series of
renovations which were completed in February.
In an effort to coordinate the classical barbershop style with
modern design, the shop is now furnished with its original
workstation furniture and barbershop poles combined with
contemporary style ceilings and walls.
“We kept the elements that people appreciated,”
Schudy said.
“For example, we used the old tools that Larry’s
father and grandfather used to use, and so far the response has
been excellent,” he said
Oakley, a fourth-generation barber, loves his job because of the
people.
“A barber has to have a lot of knowledge about what is
happening and about the world,” he said. “People come
here wanting to talk and wanting advice … so we’re also
psychiatrists. You give them quality work, and they trust
you.”