On Sunday, May 4th, Wildcard Barber will host a grand opening celebration from 5 to 9 p.m. with food, refreshments, and discount tooth gems. Montavilla’s newest barber shop recently took over the former Highway Tattoo space at 7110 NE Glisan Street. Owner Danielle St. Pierre shares the two-station shop with established Portland barber Erik “Gator” Heglund.
St. Pierre is a Worcester, Massachusetts, native who relocated to Portland almost two years ago, bringing over a decade of barbering skills to the area. She has worked at many other locations across the city, feeling out the West Coast barber community and ensuring Portland was a good fit. “I was trying to figure out if this was a place I wanted to stay more long term,” recalled St. Pierre. “I’ve worked at collective salons where you’re just renting a chair and then at neighborhood barbershops. Neighborhood barbershops are my favorite. I like building a sense of community in a neighborhood area.” She heard that Hinterland had retail space available in its NE Glisan Street building and instantly appreciated the location as a place to create a people-focused barbershop. “I like that it’s very walkable. There are so many coffee shops, restaurants, and other small businesses that I’ve chatted with. It seems like they all work together on projects or little events, and I like the sense of community,” said St. Pierre.
Converting the space took appreciable effort, with the team repainting the shop themselves and then bringing in electricians and plumbers to create the hair washing and two cut stations. St. Pierre is a fan of classic barber finishes, installing antique barber chairs and an electric spiral-striped pole. “These two chairs are over 100-year-old Kokens, which are the original [hydraulic barber chair makers] from St. Louis. And the barber pole is a [William] Marvy pole. I definitely want to continue to fill the space with antique memorabilia because I enjoy old-school barber stuff,” remarked St. Pierre.
Although the space is slender –having once been the alleyway between the century-old commercial storefronts on this street before being enclosed– it is the right size for the two-person shop. “I enjoy the two-chair space a lot. I like that it’s a quiet environment. We always have music, but there is also the feeling that you can have a personal conversation with your client. I’ve worked in other big spaces that can be a little overwhelming. I like that [our location] is a low-key neighborhood shop,” said St. Pierre. She hopes everyone will feel welcome coming in to receive cuts and shaves. “I’m queer, and I think having a queer-owned, women-owned business in this neighborhood is going to be cool. I really enjoy the sense of having a community here and being able to build both his clientele and my clientele.” Gator and St. Pierre worked together at a previous location, and she brought him into the new shop. Since the soft opening on April 8th, his established client list has reliably shown up at the new location. “I would say he’s very booked; he’s killing it. We’re just trying to keep growing here in this new space,” explained St. Pierre.
Although they priced haircuts for grown-ups, they can accommodate younger patrons if requested but anticipate mainly servicing teens and adults. Otherwise, they will see all types of customers, provided they need a style fitting their offerings. “It is a barbershop, definitely a little bit more androgynous as far as who we cut. It’s not necessarily short hair, but we lean shorter styles,” said St. Pierre. People can order haircuts, hot towel shaves, and beard services from the posted price list. They steer clear of coloring and other add-on services that are not traditionally part of a barbershop but have some restorative options. “We offer a shampoo and hot towel 10-minute service, a little relaxing thing, and we’ll do small cleanup stuff in between your bigger services. We wanted to keep it simple with our services and not get too expansive,” explained St. Pierre.
The name Wildcard Barber comes from a nickname St. Pierre received early on in her career for being good at switching between various styles –wildcards being a playing card that can substitute for any other card in a game. “I started in salons and would take all kinds of clients. It was just sort of the joke because I would cut all different people and types of hair, which I enjoy.”
Wildcard Barber is open Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Danielle St. Pierre and Gator invite people to attend the grand opening event on Sunday night. They anticipate serving pizza, soda, and some local pastries. They will sell logo merchandise and plan to have a raffle basket. Icy Fangs Tooth Gems will be at the shop from 6 to 8 p.m. during the opening to adhere some sparkle to people’s teeth at a discounted rate. If interested visitors miss the event, Danielle St. Pierre hopes to have regular events every other month, with the next one being a Pride Month event planned for June 1st. Follow the company’s Instagram page for more details.
Promotion:Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Otter Wax, a neighborhood producer of small-batch specialty goods handcrafted in Portland. Using only natural ingredients, they make modern care products that are steeped in tradition. We thank them for their support.