Floyd’s 99 Cuts Loose
Orlando’s third rock n’ roll barbershop helps energize local economy
Orlando, March 18, 2013— This week, a third rock n’ roll barbershop will open in Orlando in as many years.
With one Floyd’s 99 already rocking the house on South Orange Ave, and another in Winter Park, celebrity owners Kyle and Sarah Sleeth are getting ready to crank up the volume on both style and the local economy when their new shop opens in Mills50 on March 21.
“Bring out the scissors!” says Orlando City Commissioner Patty Sheehan, who worked closely with the Sleeths to make this project happen. “Bring on the ribbon cutting!”
The city says new permitting has taken off since this winter. And Sheehan says the new rock n’ roll barbershop is the perfect poster child for how the Orlando economy is becoming more free and relaxed. Just a few blocks away, a new shopping center, complete with a Fresh Market, is under construction. And rumor has it a new Trader Joe’s will open in the area as well, which, if true, will be a first for Central Florida.
“The vacant store fronts are going away,” Sheehan says. “The market here is definitely on the upswing.”
To highlight the good news, Sheehan will create an edgy photo op where she will cut, shave and style a foam lathered grand opening ribbon at the new shop Grand Opening on March 21 at 11 am.
Like its sister shops, the new barbershop is a rock n’ roll retreat. Music is broadcast from their own radio station and they have their own version of The Wall, a hip collage of posters where the gods of Rock gaze down upon sleek, black leather barber chairs and an elite team of stylists and barbers, many who look like rock stars themselves. Think: Hard Rock meets Haircutting or, Pink Floyd meets Floyd the Barber.
The new shop will open in the eclectic Mills50 Main Street District. Known as the Intersection of Culture + Creativity, the area is a hip collection of shops, businesses and restaurants.
“Everybody here is very excited about this opening,” Sheehan says. “They took an old crummy gas station and turned it into a vibrant new spot.”
Kyle Sleeth, former starting pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, along with his wife and biz partner Sarah, have already hired 15 people for the new shop. They may also hire two more just for the bullpen—protection against what happened last spring when their second shop became so instantly successful that it was overrun in its first days. And business has only gotten better since then.
“This Sunday we had 105 people in the chair,” Sarah says of the Winter Park shop, just three miles from the new shop, especially impressive since Sunday hours are 5 less than the typical 9 to 9. (Hence, Floyd’s 99). “Business is growing so fast that we had to do something. We don’t want people to wait.”
The new shop is located at 842 N. Mills Ave on the corner of Mark St at 407-985-3500. All cuts, which normally start at $16, are half price for the first month.
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Chris Kelley
406-333-9999
chris.k@floydsbarbershop.com
If Rolling Stone magazine ever opened up a barbershop, it would look like Floyd's 99. Katy Perry uses one in her Hot n’ Cold video and several reality TV shows have filmed their contestants getting rock star makeovers there. The first shop opened in 2001 and has since become the fastest growing group of barbershops in the nation, much of that growth happening during one of the worst economic periods in US history.
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