Gone Today, Hair Tomorrow

Step inside, love…

ou know how it is, you spend your life hoping, learning, saving, planning and preparing to turn your lifelong dream into a reality when, suddenly…

Hey, a worldwide pandemic comes along and puts all your schemes and dreams – along with pretty much the entire planet’s – on hold.

For Paul and Louise Cole, getting to open their own little barber shop in Greystones is most definitely a dream come true. 

The furniture’s there, the walls are painted, all the necessary fittings are fitted, and the decor is just so. As for the location, being just beside Daata and across from Hill’s Garage means that the Cole & Co Barber Shop is slap bang in the middle of town. And just down the road from home.

“There’s something really nice about living and working in the same community,” says Paul. “When we moved to Newtownmountkennedy five years ago, we knew we were now Wicklow lifers. We can’t get enough of the place! All we had to do was start planning on how to have a working life here too…”

Having spent the last eight years building up his skills – and his reputation – working in some of Dublin’s most acclaimed barber shops (including The Grooming Rooms and The Fireplace Barber Shop), making the move to running his own business in Dun Laoghaire let Paul know that he could go it alone.

“I love what I do,” he explains, “and so, when it came to looking to move my work closer to home, opening a barber shop was the obvious choice. That we managed to do so in Greystones, and at a time when men are really taking an interest in looking smart, well, it’s the perfect place, and the perfect time, for Cole & Co…”

Yep, their new Hillside HQ is everything Paul and Louise ever dreamed of. Only, right now, they can’t turn the ignition and put the barber shop pedal to the metal until it’s once again safe for us all to strut down the town and get that mop top back in tip-top shape.

And when that glorious day comes, Cole will be ready. As will, of course, Co.

“From the start, the goal was to create a really nice environment for our customers,” says Paul, “and that in itself has been a great experience. My dad is a builder, and so the two of us did most of the work – and we’re incredibly proud of the results.

“And it’s a family affair all the way – Louise has been the one keeping my feet on the ground when my head’s in the clouds, making sure that everything just works.”

Having tested the water by having a soft one-day opening in early March, the couple know that, yes, everything about Cole & Co does indeed work. 

“When everyone finally gets to come back out of their caves,” smiles Paul, “we’ll be so, so ready to make each and every Greystonian looks dapper than they’ve ever been…”

Boom! You can find out more about Cole & Co Barber Shop on their website here, and on Instagram here, Facebook here, Google Maps here, or get in touch directly on [email protected].