Joe’s Barber Shop closes after more than 50 years

A stray comb is swept into a dustpan. 

Straight and black, the barber’s comb had looked at home on the black and white checked floor, but now it seems out of place.

The 300-pound, leather barber’s chair has been loaded into a truck and moved away. The counter that held scissors, combs, and razors is bare. Magazines on hand for waiting customers are placed into garbage bags.

But Joe Martin is still busy. 

Well-wishers stop in to greet him one last time. Phone calls and texts ask if he’s free for a haircut today. Affectionately known in Willow Springs as Joe the Barber, he tells those asking that no, he can’t do a haircut.

“After nearly 55 years, it’s time to retire,” he tells them.

While Martin has been as much of a fixture downtown as the barbershop pole outside his business at 108 E. Main St., he isn’t the first. In fact, a barbershop had been in his location off and on for more than 90 years. His last day in the shop was November 19, and he and his wife, Janice, have been working since then to clean out the building.

“There comes a time when the old body just wears out,” he said, adding that extra busy days had just become harder and harder. “I appreciated every one of (my customers) but your body just says, ‘Hey, I’ve had enough.’”

Without a blink, Martin said his customers are what he’ll miss most about so many years in business.

“I’ve been through divorces and sickness with people, but basically, it’s been good times. I don’t have the answers, but it’s good to let them talk to you,” he said. “I’ve got good memories and for the most part, it’s been wonderful…Willow has been good to me.”

Martin said he first came to Willow Springs in October 1968. “There were four barbers here then.”

He worked with Allen Frazee but left briefly to barber in Ozark. In the early 1970s, Martin and Frazee agreed for Martin to purchase the business. “He told me, ‘I will see that you make it.’ I learned a lot from him,” he said.

Frazee was involved in his church, and numerous activities and clubs. “But he didn’t talk much in here,” said Martin. “He had a tremendous business.” 

In the late 1970s, Martin said he and some other stylists in town did training to become barber-stylists. “That made me a way better barber,” he said. However, he also let his hair grow out and grew a beard. “The older men thought I’d lost my mind, but you have to look the part.”

Now, Martin said he has some specific plans for his retirement.

“I’m going to spend time with my lovely wife,” he said, adding they will be planting flowers, shrubs, and relaxing at the new house they’ve just built. They’ll also be enjoying their grandkids. 

“And answering the phone and telling people I retired,” he joked. “We’re just going to enjoy life. And not get up early every morning.”