SAUGUS — Local Mike Moriello isn’t just a guy who owns a barber shop. He’s the guy who owns and operates the oldest barber shop in the United States: George’s Barber Shop.
Moriello is the 5th generation of his family to own the shop that was founded by his great-grandfather, George Moriello, in 1902. George was an immigrant from Italy who put down his roots in Saugus.
Now, Moriello’s shop has been nominated for a Best of the North Shore award. The shop has been nominated and won in the past, but Moriello said that it had been a while since they were nominated, and he’s excited to be back on the list.
“It’s been a while. I can’t remember the last time we were nominated. I was extra excited to be nominated this year, because in this industry there are a lot of shops. You’ll notice that they’re on almost every corner,” he said.
Moriello said his original plan never included him taking over the family business. “I’m the fifth generation, and I remember growing up as a kid and even in high school adults constantly asking me, ‘Oh, are you a barber like your father?’ I was tired of hearing about it my whole life,” he said.
However, he realized that he wasn’t sure where he was going after high school. He watched his friends get ready for college and didn’t feel as though that was meant to be his path either.
“I didn’t want to just do nothing and be lazy so, I did go to barber school. Even then, I didn’t think it’s what I wanted to do, but I thought until I figured it out I should be smart and get a license and a trade to fall back on,” Moriello said.
Barber school was the obvious choice with his family already owning a shop.
“I started to get into it. And one thing I always had was pride in my family. I started thinking more about running the business,” he said.
Moriello continued that he has always been a supporter of small businesses like his own and that he tries to support them every where he goes. Now, he’s been a barber for 33 years, and he’s still just as proud of his family and the business as he was back then.
“I like what I do. We get a lot of great people in here,” he said.
When asked how he feels carrying on his family’s legacy he said, “Great. I’m very proud of it. I think the nice thing about family owned businesses is pride really takes over. It’s not just some place I work. Not only has my family been here for generations, there’s generations of families that have been coming here.”
Moriello continued that because of this, it truly feels like the clientele they have is family.
“I’ve given kids their haircut when they were in elementary school, and then I gave them their graduation hair cut, their wedding hair cut, and now they bring their kids here,” he said.
Moriello joked that it makes him feel old sometimes, but it also makes him feel good.
When asked if he ever thinks about how historic the shop is he said it’s when he sees the multigeneration clientele that he realizes how long the shop has been around.
“This 85-year-old guy came in here and said, ‘I got my first hair cut from your grandfather.’ It’s been so long since he passed away and I’m still getting stories about him,” he said.
Moriello explained that he takes massive pride in his work saying, “You’re only as good as your last haircut. If I sold sunglasses or hats, it’s the same hat. The guy comes in here again because he liked the last hair cut your gave him. It’s a walking advertisement. It has to be done right.”
He continued that if someone is walking around with a bad hair cut their going to be asked where they got it, and no one is going to want to go there after seeing that.
“Being the fifth generation, I don’t want to be the one to ruin it. I don’t want this place going under on my watch. So, I take so much pride not just in this shop, but in my work every day. The community here has been so good to us. I can’t let these people down,” he said.
