Students looking for a cheap, quick haircut will soon have a new option on College Hill. Supercuts will move into the space above specialty gift shop Only In Rhode Island at Thayer and Cushing streets in roughly two months' time, according to a spokeswoman for Supercuts' parent company, Regis Corporation.
Until 2004, the national hairdressing chain had a shop at 288 Thayer Street, where J & J's Candy Bar is now located. The company describes itself as a "male-focused, affordable" chain, and though it has over 2,000 locations nationwide, its Seekonk, Mass., location is currently the closest to Brown.
Justin Glavis-Bloom '07 used to get his hair cut at the old College Hill Supercuts location. "I thought it was great," he said, adding that he has since switched to getting haircuts at Salon Kroma. Though it's "a lot more expensive," he enjoys getting his hair cut by the same stylist every time.
Of the three salons closest to campus, Salon Persia will be the closest salon to the new Supercuts - only a block away. But Salon Persia stylist Sara DeCristoforo said Salon Persia's stylists have "more experience" than Supercuts' employees.
Still, Supercuts' prices are lower than those of the existing Thayer Street salons. A haircut at Supercuts' Seekonk location is $13.95, while women's haircuts at Salon Persia are $50 and men's are $25. Haircuts for women at Salon Kroma start at $40 and men's are $25 and up, and at Squires Salon on Euclid Street, women's cuts start at $35 and men's at $25, but prices can run as high as $60 depending on the style.
But despite its cut-rate prices, Supercuts won't be trimming Professor of Religious Studies Harold Roth's hair. He said he used to get his hair cut at Michael Anthony's hair salon, which until last year occupied a space in the basement of Faunce House. In an e-mail to The Herald, he wrote of Supercuts: "I have little idea what they are and little interest except that this continues the destructive homogenization of Thayer Street."
