Torreto Barbershop
„Do one thing in life and do it right!“
His ambition to become a barber came from Alexander Vellios (known as Torreto) childhood memories.
He grew up in a small village in Greece together with his grandfather. There, they often visited the local barber shop. Through those visits, he got to know at a young age the gentlemen mentality: respect toward older people and the welcome with a handshake. Talking about the real life made such a big expression on him, that he began to think of the barber as his heroes. The way how barbers build friendships with their customers were admirable for him:
As soon as they entered the shop, it didn’t matter where they worked or how much money they earned. Important was who they really were, how they treated people and that they showed respect for each other. The culture of the barbers lead him to his dream to become one of them.
After he spent his whole childhood in Greece, his parents decided to live in Germany. Alexandros followed his parents and tried his luck in Germany. Although he couldn’t be friends with the educational system, he graduated. Afterwards he started his apprenticeship as a hairdresser, but gave up on it, because he noticed, that it had nothing to do with his childhood memories of the barbers in Greece. There are two different professions (we will explain the difference in a separate blog post – STAY TUNED). After furthermore attempts to establish a foothold in Germany, he decided to go back to Greece to join the army. There it was kind of a tradition, that the newbies have been selected to cut the hairs of the soldiers.
During this phase he got to know, how much appreciation a hair cut could earn. Even his supervisors came occasionally to get a new hair cut. After a successful time at the army, Alexandros decided to fulfill his long-desired dream: to open his own barber shop in Germany.
Thereby he always remembered the words of his grandfather: „Do one thing in life and do it right!“
He needed one year for planning and realization. With a little capital, but a strong passion and lifeblood, he finally opened his first barber shop in the Basaltstrasse 46 in Frankfurt in August 2014. There he had a back room in a hairdressing salon.
A safe heaven for real men.
Here you don’t wait until its your turn. You enjoy your whiskey and smoke a cigar during your waiting time.
With his first store in Frankfurt Bockenheim he made it possible to achieve something in a short time, that many people had previously regarded as impossible. He reanimated the forgotten craft of the barber.
After short time his barber shop boomed and it came to problems with the landlord. The lessor hadn’t told the owner of Alexandors barbershop. Additionally, Alexandros had already a big customer base, which the owner of the hair salon didn’t liked. The jealousy of the hairdresser have been confirmed in written words: ‘Cancelation of the rentabel area!’
Although he had ups and downs, he decided to hold on to his dream and looked after a new space for his barber shop. After a long search, he finally found a space near the center of the city (Alten Gasse) spread over two floors. Until today, that is the place of Alexandors barber shop: Torreto.
