The DeSoto County Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for Cut above the rest hair Studio Tuesday morning at the barber shop's new location, 1233 East Oak Street, Arcadia.

“I always had a passion for cutting hair and was a mobile barber and bounced around from shop to shop,” owner Dave Owens said. “I noticed that everybody was driving to Port Charlotte and Punta Gorda to get haircuts.

“That was one of the things I wanted to do here was bring that down-home barber shop feel – a place where anyone can relax, have a good time, have a hot shave, and get a real good haircut – that’s what I want to bring here.”

Cut above the rest hair Studio was located at 1 W. Magnolia St. in downtown Arcadia until Hurricane Ian caused the business to relocate.

Since the move, Owens has been able to bring in more business and wants to continue giving back to the community.

“I’m going to be talking to the Big Brother Big Sister program in town and trying to get myself involved with that in bringing children here to hang out, show them techniques and teach them,” he said. “We also will do our back-to-school cuts; it was really big last year. We hope to do it again this year. With everybody knowing that we are here (and) the community sharing it, we want to be able to do more than what we did last year.”

Owens added that his shop provided around $2,500 worth of free haircuts before school began last year.

“In one day, we have haircuts to over 200 or so kids to go back to school and not asking or a dime,” he said. “It was all free. Kids who might not have the opportunity to get a good haircut … at least they had the opportunity to go back to school with a great looking haircut and build that self-esteem.”

For more information go to http://cutabovetheresthairstudio.com or call 941-875-5323.

To book an appointment, go to http://cutabovetheresthairstudio.booksy.com

For more information about the DeSoto County Chamber of Commerce, go to https://desotochamberfl.com/

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