Craig’s Central Barber Shop

I’ve been going to Craig to get my hair cut for about 13 years now. I used to go to Loren down on East Main Street before he passed away, then turned to Craig when I needed high and tights in high school for JROTC.
Nobody can give a good men’s haircut like Craig. He really is good, and he gives a better haircut than many I have been able to get even on military bases (I continued the hair style during my six years in the Army and ever since, given how poofy my hair is if it gets the least bit long). I always save my haircut for Craig when I know I’m going to be visiting West Virginia from where I now live in the D.C. area. It’s just tough to find someone who does such a good job, although I do miss the hot cream shave on the back of my neck that I get from my barber up here… but Craig gets closer on other areas than most, so it balances out perfectly.
Craig’s barber shop is your old-​time classic barber shop where all the old men come to get their gossip and do what we native West Virginians call «politickin’.» The interior is rustic, and you’ll find posters hanging up of everyone from Jesus to Barney Fife. There’s a snake skin on the wall, along with Craig’s Marine Corps discharge papers and other interesting trinkets. The Andy Griffith show is almost always on the TV. Coming here is definitely an experience.
Unfortunately, that experience is also where I have to deduct one star. I love that Craig knows everyone and does such a good job of facilitating conversation in the shop while still giving great haircuts. It’s really impressive, actually. Quite a skill. However, my last few visits, despite there only being about two to four people in front of me, have taken just more than two hours. It really doesn’t take that long to do a men’s haircut, and I’m conflicted because I really want to support Craig and love getting my haircut there, but it sucks up your whole morning. I just wish the talking was more between the patrons or happened while hair cutting was going on, but it’s usually more of a stop and go thing, which drags the haircuts out.
This is the best $ 10 haircut you’ll ever have (raised in January from having been $ 8 for years), and Craig is an absolutely wonderful guy. I always come away knowing about all the new construction projects about to happen in the area, what local politician is doing what, who is going to be the new school principal, that sort of stuff. And I always come away happy with my haircut… never once in 13 years has Craig let me down. I just wish I could get in and out in 30 minutes like I do everywhere else I get a haircut.