Is there truly anything more annoying than setting yourself to go somewhere, only to find out that the place is closed for today? If there is, those things are few!
Many businesses have the usual working hours each day, and they can work weekends, too. When someplace works on the weekends, it’s rather easy to remember that you can go anytime.
Luckily, many businesses use Google to state their working hours, so it’s not hard to miss. You can check out what days are working days, check the hours, and even contact the place via phone or social media.
So, you wanted to visit your barber shop, and when you checked out their work hours, you found out that they don’t work Mondays. That seems like a weird thing – so you check out various other barbershops.
And guess what – they don’t work Mondays too! Why are barbershops closed on Mondays? Continue reading our article to find out the answer, and more!
Why Are Barber Shops Closed On Mondays?
Surely, you had to notice that barber shops and hair salons don’t work Sundays and Mondays. If you didn’t, you were just lucky, probably.
It’s widely spread across the whole country – it’s very difficult to find a barber shop that opens its door on a Monday. If you live in a small city or town, you thought nothing weird about it.
Everything closes early and doesn’t work certain days, so salons and barber shops are nothing different. But, at some point, we all realized that barbers never work Mondays.
So, why are barber shops closed on Mondays and Sundays?
The barber union pushed for a rule called “no cutting on Sunday and Monday”. The rule was made so the barbers could get a two-day weekend, too.
The Sunday was chosen solely so the barbers could attend church if they like. As for Monday, it was chosen to make the weekend longer, since Saturday was off the table.
It may seem ridiculous to someone who doesn’t work in the field. Not working on a Saturday when you’re a barber is just a poor business move.
Many barber shops have the greatest amount of customers on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s days when people are off work and have the time for a little grooming. Mondays were pretty slow back then, so it was only natural to choose that day for a day off.
Is It Illegal For A Barber Shop To Work On A Monday?
Well, no. it’s not exactly illegal for barbers to work Mondays, but it’s not very common either. When the union pushed for Monday off, it was illegal – but only back then.
Many people assume that it’s against the law for barber shops to work Mondays. The reason behind that it’s almost impossible to find a barber that opens their doors on the first day of the week.
Back in the day, some laws mandated barber shops to close on Sundays and Mondays. Because of that move in the past, the practice is still alive and well.
When the union fought for their right to a two day weekend, the law was applied to all barber shops across the entire country. This law was enforced with fines – and hefty ones at that. Eventually, all barbers complied pretty soon to avoid paying an obscene amount of money for working on a day off.
The fines were introduced to enforce this law for a sole reason – not all barbers were happy with the law. There was a disagreement with members of the union, which postponed the push for a two-day weekend.
However, those pushing for a no-work Monday finally won. Of course, not everyone was happy with the change, including some barbers and customers. Then, some barber shops decided to push back and open their doors on a Monday.
As an act of defiance, they even offered lower rates for haircuts and shaves on a Sunday or Monday. This didn’t last very long, because the union wasn’t happy with these single acts of defiance.
Members of the union who were unsatisfied with these acts handed the unruly barbers huge fines. Some even hired criminals to rough up barber shop owners. This disagreement went on for a few weeks until the defiant barbers finally gave in to the rules of the union.
The law that forces barber shops to close on a Monday was lifted years later. It took many votes and many, many years before the barbers could push for the ability to work on any given day of the week. This was a big win for all hair salons and barber shops.
Most barber shops and hair salons still follow this rule, decades after. It’s still good to know they can change their working hours if they like!
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Is It A Bad Thing If A Barber Shop Chooses To Work On A Monday?
We have already discussed why are barber shops closed on a Monday. The union pushed for their rights to a two-day weekend since most shops worked every day from Monday to Sunday before that. They just needed a break every week, since every other profession had that right.
When looking back, barbers wanted to fight for their right to be off work, not to be forced to close their doors on certain days. If you ask us, the barbershops should have their right to stay open or have days off if they like, and nobody else should choose for them.
Why did the barbershops fight for their right to stay open, anyway? Don’t all people want to relax during the weekend?
Well, take a few moments to think about it – even if the Sundays and Mondays were slower than any other days, customers still came in. so, it was a loss of income nonetheless, and it was at least 10% less every week.
Some barbers were happy with the change and didn’t care about the lost income, they just wanted to relax every week. Some others weren’t, since the law restricted them from choosing their working days and working hours.
So, Why Are Some Barber Shops Open On Mondays?
Now, that the barbers have the freedom to choose any day to work, there are a few reasons why they would choose to work on all days of the week.
Private Ownership
- When the law mandating Mondays off was lifted, every barber could choose to open and close their doors as they like. The decision was up to the owners and nobody else.
- This resulted in a significant portion of shops opening their doors on Mondays. However, you can see that lots of shops don’t work Mondays even today!
Competition
- The tradition of Sundays and Mondays off is still alive and strong – we’re well aware. Because of that, the competition these days is nonexistent.
- The incentive to stay open on Mondays is entirely monetary gain. Nobody else works Mondays so that a single barber shop can profit because nobody else is open!
Building Clientele
- This is one of the most important reasons why a barber shop would choose to work on all days f the week. When the barber shop is new, they can advertise that they’re open every day of the week!
- Many people choose their barber shop on the incentive of convenience. If the chosen shop works every day, it’s more convenient than any other shop!
- Whether should the barber shops work on a Monday is still a debate today. The barbers should choose their working hours, without anyone meddling in that!
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Why Are Barber Shops Closed On Mondays? – Bottom Line
To conclude, barber shops today are closed solely because of the age-old practice. A long time ago, barbers didn’t have the freedom to choose their working days.
So, the barbers union pushed for a change and their right to a two-day weekend. Sunday was chosen so the barbers could attend church.
Choosing Monday didn’t have a great reason like Sunday, it was chosen simply because it was usually a slow day. Saturday was one of the busiest days.
To enforce the days off, the union came up with a law prohibiting barbers to work on these days. Many barbers weren’t satisfied with this, so they pushed back.
After many years, every barber can now choose their working days for themselves. However, many still choose to comply with the union rules, decades after!
