KITCHENER — For as long as the red brick Walper Hotel has anchored Kitchener's downtown core, there's been a barbershop tucked inside its Queen Street doors.

With its intricate mosaic tile floors, a turn-of-the-20th century cash register — still in daily use — and a spinning barber's pole, it looks somewhat frozen in time.

It's an active place, though, with customers coming through the doors at a decent clip on a weekday morning, taking a seat to await their turn.

But that's soon to change. By the end of May, the doors will close, the four barbers who work there told they're no longer welcome.

"This is my home, my second home," said Robert Metcalf, who's been there for nearly 22 years. "What they're doing is driving us away from our home, in essence."

Metcalf and his three colleagues, each operating as independent businesspeople, can't understand why this is happening, why a 126-year-old hotel fixture suddenly has just eight weeks left.

The barbers, who have rented space on a month-to-month basis for years, received the news late last week.

"They're going to renovate it and repurpose it, is exactly what we were told," said Sandra Emberson, who celebrated her 25th anniversary at the shop on March 15. "Instead of a gold watch, I got an eviction notice."

An ownership group including Perimeter Development Corp. purchased the landmark in 2013 and embarked upon an extensive project to transform it into an upscale boutique hotel. The barbershop was one of the last spaces that had not been touched.

Perimeter's Craig Beattie said the hotel's ground-floor retail spaces have been remerchandised as opportunities arose.

"The existing barber shop operators have been a month-to-month tenancy for many years and despite past inquiry, have never expressed a desire to reposition and upgrade their shop or enter into a longer term arrangement," he said in an email.

"We recently had a progressive new user approach us interested in being a part of the reinvigorated hotel who is excited about the vibrant changes taking place downtown and as such we have completed a deal for that space and have exercised our ability to take the space back."

Emberson said it's a business decision that doesn't respect the shop's history.

Barber Jordan Lafrance is the newcomer, with about 2 ½ years at the shop. But she feels just as much a part of the family.

"I love it here. I never wanted to leave," she said. "I love the people I work with. I feel sad for the clients, too. We have a huge loyal clientele here."

Waterloo's Albert Martin is one of those customers, a regular for at least 35 years.

"It's a small business, independent, great service, always friendly," he said. "They treat you like family."

Bob Elliott began coming to the shop years ago on the advice of his uncle. "The fact it's downtown, it's convenient. It's always busy, and very people-friendly."

A look around the small shop offers a glimpse of its past — a collage of old black-and-white photos, a handwritten list of the barbers who've worked there, civic awards and certificates.

At a hotel whose guests have included the Queen Mother, Eleanor Roosevelt and Bob Hope, it's said that legends like Louis Armstrong and B.B. King sat down in the shop for a shave or a snip.

Even the "new" barber chairs and stations, brought in in 1990, ooze nostalgia — the mint-condition pieces actually date from 1968.

"They're going to lose the history," said Emberson, who was the shop's first female barber when she arrived in 1994.

Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading... Loading...

"We're a part of this hotel. It's us. It reflects who we are," Metcalf said. "It's just beyond comprehension."

bdavis@therecord.com

Twitter: @DavisRecord