The community is invited to celebrate the careers of barbers Jim Erisman and Gary Keener at an open house retirement party, May 11, 1-5 pm at the Mug & Brush in Farmersville. The two long-time friends are also celebrating their May 11 birthdays that day.
Jim Erisman got his first professional haircut as a freshman in high school and decided right then he wanted to be a barber. After graduation, he attended Dayton Barber College, then located on 5th Street in Dayton.
He started cutting hair in 1972 when haircuts were $2.
He cut every kind of hairstyle for the next 55 years, including mullets, they just came back Erisman noted, bowl cuts, flat tops and more. Erisman also did military haircuts early in his career as a member of the National Guard in Eaton.
Opening the Mug & Brush
After working together since 1988, Erisman and his childhood friend Gary Keener renovated a home on Center Street in Farmersville and opened the Mug & Brush Barber Shop in 1996.
About that time, Erisman and Keener became a staple of Valley View football tradition. “Thursday night, the football team would have team dinner. After team dinner, the whole football team would come to the barber shop and we would put designs on their heads,” Erisman said. “Gary and I might be here until midnight.”
Surviving COVID
Like many small businesses, the Mug & Brush was affected by the pandemic and changes in consumer behavior.
“They shut us down for three months,” Erisman noted. “So that hurt our business so bad. We had so many customers who went out to Walmart, bought box clippers, and started cutting their own hair. We didn't have these guys when we come back to work. We didn't have our own customers.”
Post-Retirement plans
When asked about his plans for retirement, Erisman noted that his service as a Jackson Township Trustee keeps him very busy. “This month already, we've had five meetings,” he said. “I got another one tomorrow night. I got another one Saturday.”
“We're just so busy, so I don't have time to cut hair,” he joked.
Future for the Mug & Brush
The shop now has five barbers and hosts a tattoo artist as well. The building is for sale by Erisman and Keener, but the current team, headed by Lynn Dotson, hopes to stay in the building with new owners.
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