Brad Jackson, owner of the Roughneck Beard Company, has a “hard deadline” to open the shop, at 7282 Manchester Road, he said. He and his business partner Alan Crook were there Saturday tearing the interior out of the former Maple Leaf barber shop, which closed in December.

The third annual St. Louis Beard and Mustache Competition is scheduled for March 19 at the Old Rock House, in downtown St. Louis, and Jackson wants those bearded people coming to Maplewood to visit his shop.



“It’s like, 200-300 bearded people from all over the country, so we really want to be open by the time that happens,” he said. “We’ve been online for two years — have a huge online following — we want people to be able to come here.”

He said they’re trying to do the remodel as quickly as possible so they can focus the month of February on permits, signage and displays. “As long as everything goes as planned we’ll open March 1,” Jackson said.