Birds Barbershop is an independently owned brand of barbershops founded in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, USA. The first shop was opened in 2006 by Jayson Rapaport and Michael Portman with the goal to provide low cost

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon, a venue for cosmetic treatments * French term for a drawing room, an architectural space in a home * Salon (gathering), a meeting for learning or enjoyment Arts and entertainment * Salon (P ...

services for both men and women in a casual

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

club environment.

History

Michael Portman left his job at

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

and moved to Austin, where he met Jayson Rapaport, who had recently left a career as a

Wall Street Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs between Broadway in the west to South Street and the East River in the east. The term "Wall Street" has become a metonym for t ...

trader. They created Birds as an alternative to salons and chain hair-cutters. Each of their five local shops is built around a large-scale

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

by a local artist and has a stage for

live music A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety an ...

. Portman and Rapaport named it Birds as a direct appeal to women.

Design

Each Birds Barbershop has an independent color theme. Some locations have retro decor and others have sports themes. Each location has a large wall mural.

Awards

*One of America's 100 Best Salons - ''

Elle ''Elle'' (stylized ''ELLE'') is a worldwide women's magazine of French origin that offers a mix of fashion and beauty content, together with culture, society and lifestyle. The title means "she" or "her" in French. ''Elle'' is considered the w ...

'', six consecutive years *Best in the Beauty Business - ''Austin Monthly'' *Best Beauty Salon - Austin A List, 2007 *Best of Austin 21 awards * Austin Chronicle's 'Best Haircut'

References

{{reflist

External links

Official website
Hairdressing salon chains American companies established in 2006 Retail companies established in 2006 Retail companies of the United States Companies based in Austin, Texas 2006 establishments in Texas