More than a haircut: Barber retires after 58 years

UNION BEACH – After 58 years of cutting hair in Union Beach, Louie the Barber has hung up his shears.

Louie's Barbershop, 613 Union Ave., was one constant in a changing town. Born Luigi Guarnieri, but better known as Louie, he's been cutting hair in Union Beach before the roads were paved or sewers were installed.

The little shop with a brick facade and a barber's pole out front outlasted economic downturns and survived hurricanes, but it met its match on June 8, when a four-alarm fire ripped through the shop's next-door neighbor, Hydrair Inc. That fire is remembered for an even greater tragedy, when firefighter Robert "Hawk" Meyer, 54, suffered a fatal heart attack at the scene.

On Thursday night, Guarnieri, who lives in Holmdel, accepted a plaque — and lots of adulation — from Union Beach in a well-attended ceremony during the regular borough council meeting. The room erupted in applause when Guarnieri, 76, who was accompanied by his daughter, was introduced.

Well-wishers pulled him aside for a handshake and a hug afterward. One of those was Michael Florio, whose hair was getting a little bit shaggy. He's not sure where to go after 25 years with Guarnieri.

"You looked forward to going there, not just for a haircut, but you kinda went there to talk to Louie, you know," said Florio, 30, who brought Guarnieri a framed photograph of his storefront. "It was just an overall great experience."

An 18-year-old Guarnieri emigrated from Italy to America with his parents and a brother in 1956. The family moved in with an aunt living in Matawan.

Having some training as a barber in his home country, Guarnieri found work quickly at Tony's Barbershop in Union Beach. He stayed there for a couple years before Tony's was sold and Guarnieri began plying his trade at another shop in Woodbridge. He reunited a few months later with his former boss at his new operation, Tony's Barbershop in Keyport.

It was around that time that he was approached by the man who had bought the first Tony's in Union Beach. The proprietor wanted to sell, but Guarnieri wasn't sure he wanted to buy. So he rented for a year, and then decided to go all in, and Louie's Barbershop was established in 1959.

He attracted a steady group of clients. Men brought their sons in. Twenty years, those children, now grown, were bringing in the next generation to get a trim from Louie.

"The people in Union Beach were very loyal to me," the soft-spoken Guarnieri told the Asbury Park Press on Wednesday. "I think it's one of the greatest towns, all beautiful people, all down to earth. For me, it was like a family, not just a business. It wasn't like coming to work everyday."

After Guarnieri's shop was ruined in the fire, his immediate inclination was to rebuild and return.

"My intention was to go back four days a week," he said. "My mind is like it was 40 years ago, but my body doesn't want to cooperate."

Shoulder problems forced him to reconsider, he said, and he hasn't cut hair since.

"I miss the people," he said. "People would come to the shop, not just the customers, but just to talk and it seems like they really enjoyed that."

Guarnieri, a father of two who was widowed in 1990, said he plans to keep busy and stay social in retirement.

"I've got quite a few friends, so I don't sit around," he said.

Russ Zimmer: 732-557-5748, razimmer@app.com