Robert “Bob” Rohloff of Appleton, Wisconsin, has been barbering for 75 years, and this year, at the age of 91, he’s fulfilled a bucket list dream by opening his very own barber shop.
Mr. Rohloff says knowing the trade is one thing, but personality is 90 percent of the business.
“You have to be a people person,” he told The Epoch Times. “You’ve got to be a good visitor, a good listener, and a good person, and that’s the main thing. My dad was that way, and I grew up that way.”
Mr. Rohloff was born and raised in nearby Black Creek where his father, Erv Rohloff, ran Uptown Barber Shop for “50-some” years. The shop, which opened in 1928, was inside the family home, so Mr. Rohloff spent much of his time watching his father work and later helping out.
“We had one of these old-fashioned shops in a small town where my mother was in the back,” he said. “We worked two nights a week, real late. She brought in cheese and crackers, and it was typical to have 10 or 15 people in the shop. ... it was an interesting thing to grow up in that atmosphere.”
Mr. Rohloff started his barbering apprenticeship in 1948 as a junior in high school. He attended vocational school every Monday and cut hair in front of a barber board on Thursday nights. Three years later, at the age of 19, he achieved his barbering license.
He “moved around a little bit,” from running his father’s shop in his hometown of Black Creek, on to Appleton, and later to Utah and Arizona, where his brother joined the business. Mr. Rohloff eventually decided to move back to Appleton with his family.
For 11 years, he worked at the Hortonville Family Barber Shop in Hortonville, Wisconsin. Having far surpassed retirement age, he knew the time would come to run his own barber shop again, but he was in no rush.
“I said when the right barber came along looking for a job, I would open my own shop again, and Mark came in just for a haircut,” Mr. Rohloff said. “We shook hands, and that was all it took.”
Together with Mark Karweick and Moira Schimke, the former owner of the Hortonville Family Barbershop, Mr. Rohloff opened Bob’s Old Fashioned Barbershop just off the highway in Hortonville on June 5. He filled the shop with old-fashioned equipment to emulate his father’s shop, including a 100-year-old customer chair.
“I’ve got two daughters that absolutely thought, at 91, that I was crazy,” he told The Epoch Times. “But I said, ‘Hey, it’s already in process, I’m going to handle it!’ And we did. ... I am so relaxed. I told my wife, ‘I’m the happiest 91-year-old guy in the country.’”
With his wife of 73 years, Marian Rohloff, won over, Mr. Rohloff set to work barbering full days on Thursdays and Fridays, and mornings until noon on Tuesdays and every third Saturday. His customers are mainly seniors from the local farming community, while Mr. Karweick attracts younger folk with his head-shaving skills and student discounts. Ms. Schimke specializes in haircuts for women. They split the rent three ways.
“[W]e can say we’re a full-service shop,” said Mr. Rohloff, who loves his local community, many of whom have become “real friends” and bring him fresh vegetables, honey, and maple syrup from their farms.
“People say, ‘Well, how long are you going to work?’ I say, ‘It’s not up to me; as long as I’m healthy’ ... I just feel great, so my theory is I’m going to keep working.
“A lot of people play golf, a lot of people do other things, so I look at coming over here and cutting hair as a hobby,” he said. “That’s why I keep my prices down low. People appreciate it, and we do a good job, so it’s really a rewarding thing for me to have this situation.”
Mr. Rohloff knows he cannot work forever. When he eventually hangs up his scissors and comb, Mr. Karweick is “all set” to take over the shop. But in the meantime, the nonagenarian firmly believes that staying occupied is vital.
“I have so many of my friends that have even gone, died, that retired being in front of the TV. They don’t last long,” Mr. Rohloff said. “I look at retirement as being able to do what I want to do, but I don’t look at it as quitting working, and I don’t think people should. I think they should work as long as they can.”
