Building sale leads Wheaton Barber Shop to relocate after more than 90 years in town

WHEATON – After having a presence in downtown Wheaton since the 1920s, Wheaton Barber Shop at 216 W. Front St. is planning to open in a new location in downtown Winfield in June following the sale of its building.

"When one door slams, another door opens," said Wheaton Barber Shop owner Bobby Lopez, who has owned the shop since 1997 with his brother, Ricky. "Wheaton has been so good to us. But a lot of our clientele come from all over. We're just moving three miles west of here. My brother and I are actually going to jog it just to prove it's not that far away."

The shop has been in its current location for eight years, but it started in 1925 in the building that formerly housed the Wheaton Grand Theater on North Hale Street. Wheaton Barber Shop plans to open June 1 at 27W460 Chicago Ave. in Winfield, next to Karwoski Family Eyecare.

Bobby Lopez said he had hoped to keep the shop in Wheaton. In a nod to its roots, the new shop will be called the Wheaton Barber Shop of Winfield.

"We couldn't find anything in our price range," he said. "We found a quaint little shop in downtown Winfield."

Wheaton Barber Shop shares its current building with Advanced Eye Care and Laser Center and Wheaton Shoe Repair, which recently marked 50 years of being in business.

Aurora-based property development company Elemy purchased the building. Elemy worked on the building that houses the recently opened The Burger Social at 108 N. Hale St. in downtown Wheaton, which is owned by the team that owns Maize + Mash in Glen Ellyn along with Barrel + Rye and The Burger Local in Geneva.

Plans for the building are not known.

"None of our plans for the property are public at this time," Joel Frieders of Elemy said in an email.

Downtown Wheaton Association Executive Director Paula Barrington said the shop and its employees will be missed.

"Not only did they bring a lot of customers into the downtown from many surrounding communities, but their shop was definitely a popular and inviting gathering place for socializing and catching up on what was happening in the neighborhood," Barrington said in an email.

In 2017, Wheaton Barber Shop received the award for Lifestyle Services Business of the Year during a Best of Wheaton awards ceremony, which was presented by the Wheaton Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Downtown Wheaton Association, Town Square Wheaton and Danada Square East and West shopping centers.

Longtime customer Steve Brown of Wheaton has been coming to the shop since 1997, when it was still in the Wheaton Grand Theater building.

"These guys just have a lot of fun in here," Brown said. "You can always find out what is going on in Wheaton."

Plus, he gets a great haircut to boot, he said. Brown said he plans to get his hair cut at the new shop.

The interaction with his customers is what Bobby Lopez loves best about his job.

"They forget about their problems when they come in our barbershop," he said. "We're not the shop that has their TV on. We like to talk to our customers. We keep our TV off, and we like to talk to our clientele."