PARKVILLE, Md. — Mirza Yalcin was one of a steady stream of customers in Massimo Minutello's chair Friday at Angelo’s Barber Shop in Parkville.
Massimo inherited the shop from his father, Angelo, who was known as the Baltimore Barber.
On Tuesday, Massimo announced after 43 years, he's closing the beloved barbershop.
“It's a little emotional,” Yalcin said.
“I know, right, exactly,” Massimo said.
Angelo Minutello opened the barbershop in the Parkville Shopping Center in 1981. Yalcin emigrated here from Turkey 45 years ago. He has been getting his hair cut at Angelo’s for 42 years.
“I like the way they do the haircut for me,” Yalcin says. “I'm very specific so they do a specific cut for me.”
Angelo Minutello started barbering when he was a teen, in his village in Cefalù, Sicily. He opened Angelo’s Barber Shop there.
RELATED: Angelo’s Barber Shop to close
Angelo came to America in 1973 and eventually settled in Baltimore County. He raised a family here and ran the barbershop. Massimo was three and a half when they moved to the U.S.
“My Uncle John had come over here and I guess my dad saw the opportunity he had to have a better life, so he took the chance, packed up and came over here,” Massimo says.
When Angelo died five years ago, Massimo took the reigns. He had worked alongside his father for over 30 years, cutting Yalcin's hair and others.
“It's very hard to let go but the time is come. The time has come,” Massimo says. “All good things come to an end, and I have to accept that.”
COVID cost them customers – some went elsewhere, some passed away. Massimo says a significant increase in rent was the final straw. The hair business has changed, too, he says, another reason for the closure. Chain salons are replacing traditional barbershops like Angelo’s.
“Just your traditional family barbershop, very hard to find nowadays,” he says. “Very far and few in between. And the ones that are around, seem like they're slowly starting to close. It's just hard to make it in this economy.”
Massimo will be moving on, to his wife's salon, Route 7 in White Marsh. At 55, he says he's too young to retire, and too old to start Angelo’s over in another location.
“I'll definitely miss the neighborhood,” he says. “A lot of good customers. Lot of good customers.”
He has a message for all the people who came to Angelo’s over the years.
“Just thank all the customers who have patronized us for many years. Many, many years, and kept us alive. So hopefully, next chapter will be just as good.”
Angelo's Barber Shop will close its doors for good on June 28.
