'Just a friendly barber': Carrboro shop to close in April after 64 years -

Phillip Knox, a former barber at the shop, said every time he looked over at the wall, he noticed something unique that he hadn't seen before.

“I’ve always kind of referred to that wall as almost like a museum of Carrboro,” Knox said.

Former UNC men’s basketball player Eric Montross, who was the starting center when UNC won the 1993 NCAA championship, is also featured among the countless photographs. Knox said that Montross was a long time customer and helped popularize the shop whenever he would get his haircut there.

Knox’s father was also a barber, who had worked with Russ Sturdivant.

“I would not be anywhere I’m at without my father and his experience and connections, kind of the stuff he’s built of himself,” he said.

The shop’s existence as a long-standing local business adds to Carrboro’s culture and identity, Knox said. He said the shop has historically been an old-school business that’s a pulse of the town and a place for people to chat and share opinions. As far as Knox knows, it's the only traditional barber shop in the area.

Sturdivant said he plans to take about six months off once the store closes. But regulars will still have a place to go.

“I am building a shop at my house for my regulars,” he said. “I would never turn my back on them because they kept me in business all these years.”

@DTHCityState | [email protected]

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