Share
For well over a century, there’s been a barbershop on the same block in Kennett Square. Mike and Barry Fragale intend to keep it that way.
Mike Fragale holds court at his shop.
Just as the 19th century was coming to a close, Fred Guy opened the doors to his new barbershop on South Union Street in downtown Kennett Square. He hung in there 31 years before selling the place to Frank Simeone at the start of the Great Depression. Another three decades later, it was in the hands of Frank Fragale and Jim Landreth. Landreth kept the barber’s pole spinning after his partner passed away in 1977 and began mentoring Fragale’s two sons, Mike and Barry. “Jim kept the shop going—he was like a second father,” says Mike.
Mike thought he might become a policeman, and Barry was looking into work as a mechanic. But Landreth encouraged Mike to go to barber school. “I said, ‘If you’re going, I’m going,’” Barry recalls.
The brothers took over in 2001, working side by side with Landreth until he retired in 2005. The shop has now persevered through two world wars, multiple global conflicts and the pandemic. “During COVID-19, we were closed for three and a half months,” says Mike. “For my brother and me, I think the shop is a link to our father. We sat in the window as little boys. I can remember looking out the window as a little kid and sweeping up for my dad on Saturdays when I was 8 or 9. That’s the reason why I keep the shop the way it is.”
When asked about the future of the business, Mike hints that there might be another Fragale in the pipeline—a son perhaps. “He’s got the personality for it. It can’t hurt to get a barber’s license, right?”
“For my brother and me, the shop is a link to our father. We sat in the window as little boys. I can remember looking out the window as a little kid and sweeping up for my dad on Saturdays when I was 8 or 9.”
—Mike Fragale
When asked about the future of the business, Mike hints that there might be another Fragale in the pipeline—a son perhaps. “He talks about it, but he’s also going to college,” his dad says. “I want him to get a business degree. He’s into powerlifting and wants to do sports nutrition, but he’s also talented. He cuts my hair and does a really good job at it. He’s got the personality for it. I don’t know, we’ll see. It can’t hurt to get a barber’s license, right?”
As for Mike, he’s only 55 and not going anywhere. “During the pandemic, I really did miss it,” he says. “I always said I didn’t want to be that guy in his 80s still working, but I do love it. I just might be that guy.”
Related: Carly Simmons Makes Country Music in the Brandywine Valley
