Lindsay Picerno opened her own barbershop in Southern Pines during the COVID-19 pandemic. While beauty salons were on lockdown during Phase 1, Picerno decided to leave her position as manager at a barbershop in Southern Pines, and her customers “went crazy” trying to find her new shop.
Picerno added Lindsay’s Groom Room to Google Maps, and it is open Monday through Friday from 11 to 7 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. With 90% of customers being active military, they “booted up” for service by offering Sundays by appointment. The barbershop is located at 280 Pinehurst Ave Suite 1, in Southern Pines. (910) 684-8499.
A men’s or child’s haircut is $20, and a wash, cut and blow-dry is $25 to $30. Hair removal with wax is offered and the “cherry on top” is the hot towel wrap after a shave. The most popular request is the Pompadour cut which is short on the sides with length on top, and they occasionally have requests for mullet cuts. Grooming products are also available for purchase.
But the beer is free. A small refrigerator sits in the living room style waiting area and is stocked with water, soft drinks and beer for paying customers.
“Sometimes, a man will have a beer while he waits and watch a little TV,” said Picerno, “and the children,” she pointed, “play over there.”
Games, toys, and child-sized furniture occupies the far corner of the spacious shop.
A foosball table in the center of the office is a major attraction for waiting customers.
Living room style waiting area with T.V. and foosball table.
“We are searching for a licensed massage therapist to fill a suite here,” Picerno said.
The office space was the first place Picerno had looked at, and it was signed through Carolina Property Sales and Rentals with Mike McKinney from radio station Star 102.5 in May, and Picerno opened for business on June 1. One of the features of the rental space is ample parking.
“I didn’t know what I was going to do with the pandemic,” Picerno said. “I thought about leaving the industry because of female cattiness and viciousness but decided to open my own shop, and everything just fell into place.”
Danny Priest is from Scotland County and moved to Moore County in October 2019 to work at Savages Barber Shop, and when Lindsay resigned, she also resigned for Priest after he said he wanted to work with Lindsay if she opened her own business.
“I was worried too. I still had construction, but I went to cosmetology school and really wanted to give it a go here,” Priest said about having his license for over 20 years. “I worked at salons and stuck out like a sore thumb, but I sold my 1963 Bel Air to go to cosmetology school, and now I’m doing what I love – barbering.”
Moore County “feels like home” for Priest who said he liked being able to visit his 82-year-old grandmother in Laurinburg.
Lindsay Picerno and Danny Priest.
Picerno has been a licensed cosmetologist for over nine years and left behind coloring to focus on barbering. Her first haircut with clippers was at age 16 after her father told her to use a number two blade on her younger brother to save money on haircuts.
“We want to create great relationships with our customers,” Picerno said.
Customers who followed Picerno to her new shop have gifted cash and a pedestal sink to help set up Lindsay’s Groom Room.
For more information on Lindsay’s Groom Room, please click here.
Feature photo: Owner Lindsay Picerno shaves employee Danny Priest.
Article and photos by Sandhills Sentinel Journalism Intern Stephanie M. Sellers.
