By Jason Klaiber
Staff Writer
The ShoppingTown Barber Shop split from its namesake mall and opened its new location last week.
The barber shop, which was the last of the original tenants standing from ShoppingTown Mall’s 1975 enclosure, has officially set up shop in Fremont Plaza on Manlius Center Road in East Syracuse.
“It’s bittersweet,” part owner Dino DiNatale said. “It’s kind of sad that we left ShoppingTown after all these years, but it was time to move on.”
The business is nonetheless retaining its name, which has stuck since DiNatale’s uncle Joseph took over what was formerly known as Mason’s Barber Shop in 1963.
“There’s a lot behind the name,” DiNatale said.
The shop’s ownership was passed down to DiNatale and his brother Joe in January 1997. Their brother-in-law Jeff Brown became a co-owner in 2015.
“The place was rocking and rolling back in the day,” Brown said. “You step out into the hallway on any given day and it was like being on the streets of New York City. There was hustle and bustle and so much life.”
DiNatale said he began to notice a decline in the mall under Moonbeam Capital Investments, LLC, the company that purchased the mall in 2013.
“They told us they were basically going to revamp the mall, but they never did,” he said. “They really just let it go. They started not fixing anything and not keeping up with the maintenance.”
DiNatale said the departures of other tenants further hurt the shopping center.
“Less customers would come to the place because there were less and less stores around,” he said.
The barber shop owners scouted out several locations for a move before deciding on the East Syracuse spot, situated within a mile and a half of the mall.
According to Brown, the new location came with double the square footage of the original, an affordable rent and ample parking for their customers.
“I think that we can only grow and get busier,” Brown said. “The exposure of just having signage out front on the road and the traffic that travels by that strip mall is really good.”
The shop, with its seven master barbers in total, has welcomed in a host of customers over the decades.
“We have a very good, established clientele,” Brown said. “They know our personalities. They get to know our families. We get to know their families.”
Upon signing the lease around five months ago, the owners spread the word by handing out small postcards to customers containing information such as the new address, the hours of operation, the phone number and a Google Map image of the shop.
“We look forward to continuing to service all the communities around the area,” DiNatale said.
Appointments for haircuts at the new location can be scheduled by calling 315-446-1881.
