For 77 years, barbers have shared stories, cracked jokes and cut hair at Village Hairstyling.
Memories line the walls of the shop at 3919 Prairie Lane with dozens of photos of customers, families and barbers.
First owned by Don Moore and then taken over by beloved and iconic barber James “Windy” Gifford in 1998, Village Hairstyling may be the last of the original businesses at the Shops of Prairie Village.
After 77 years, Gifford’s son Tim, who took over the barbershop when his father died in March 2024, is closing the longtime business’ doors due, he says, to rising rent costs and a loss of more than $10,000 in more than a year.
“The rents got so high, we can’t cut that much hair anymore,” Tim said.
First Washington Realty, the Maryland-based owner of the Shops complex, did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
“It’s kind of a sad day”
Tim spent his childhood shining shoes inside of barbershops.
His father, Windy, raised him and the rest of his family in the barber business.
Windy cut hair for 63 years, and Tim, who owns another barbershop in Louisburg, has been cutting hair himself now for 43 years. Tim raised his family in the barber business, too.
Tim said he believes Village Hairstyling “is the last original business in the shopping center.”
Its origins at the Shops of Prairie Village, coupled with its long-standing history under his father’s ownership, made closing a difficult decision, Tim said. Still, he said the shop has “run its course.”
“It’s kind of a sad day, but things just change whether we want it to or not,” Tim said, adding that working with the landlord on rent prices is not an option at this time.
Tim said Village Hairstyling’s final day will likely be Aug. 16.
Customers, neighbors will miss the shop
Michael Watson has been a Village Hairstyling customer for practically his entire life, more than 40 years.
Over the years, Watson has had many barbers at the shop, including Windy and, currently, Bill Koester.
Watson said he keeps coming back to Village Hairstyling for the familiarity and because he knows what kind of haircut he’s going to get.
Paul Otto, who now owns the neighboring Rimann Liquors shop, said it’s been a typical story they’ve heard from customers who pop in after getting a haircut next door.
Otto himself has been getting his hair cut at Village Hairstyling for 15 years.
“It’s sad,” Otto said, adding that he sees Village Hairstyling as one of the last shops that draws in mostly male customers to the Shops.
Otto and Rimann Liquors helped purchase a memorial bench honoring Windy Gifford, which currently sits outside of Village Hairstyling. Otto said that the bench will stay, but if it needs to move for whatever tenant takes over the space, he’ll place outside his liquor store.
A longtime barber is opening his own shop
Koester, who has cut hair at Village Hairstyling for 20 years, is opening his own barbershop, Old Town Barber, at the Lenexa Plaza shopping complex near 77th Street and Quivira Road in Lenexa. And some of his fellow barbers at Village Hairstyling are coming with him.
Before Old Town Barber opens and before Village Hairstyling closes its doors, Tim Gifford is planning a customer appreciation day from 2 to 4 p.m. on July 19.
It’s an effort to give longtime customers a final chance to see goodbye to Village Hairstyling and chat with barbers, tell old stories and appreciate the space.
A specific opening date for Koester’s Old Town Barber is still in the works, but Gifford said Village Hairstyling’s phone number will be transferred to Koester’s new shop.
Like the barbers, the memories and photos lining the walls of the space at 3919 Prairie Lane are also headed to Old Town Barber.
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