# Barber shops and Mondays. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 24, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909 "2002-03-24T23:07:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Goliano](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f07891/32.png) [@Goliano](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goliano)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/1 "2002-03-24T23:07:10Z")
Why are barber shops closed on Mondays? Peace! Goliano ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/2 "2002-03-24T23:10:42Z")
Lots of restaurants are closed on Mondays too. I believe it’s because the bulk of their customers need to get haircuts (or eat out or what have you) on weekends. So they stay open on Sundays, but need a weekend. Or they use Sunday/Monday as their “weekend.” L ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/3 "2002-03-24T23:21:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SexyWriter \* > **So they stay open on Sundays,** I’m sure that **SexyWriter** meant “Saturdays”. ---
**Author:** ![heptapod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@heptapod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heptapod)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2002, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/4 "2002-03-24T23:32:39Z")
My father runs a barbershop and he is closed on Wednesday. There are a few other barbershops in his town and only one is closed on Monday. I have no idea what the schedule is like for the others. I’d assume the day off is arbitrary or has something to do with people just coming back from the weekend and being way too busy to care about getting a trim. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/5 "2002-03-25T03:26:16Z")
Ages ago in another life I was a shoeshine boy in a barbershop. The barber reached an agreement with the three other shops in our little town and they all closed on Monday. It was just a very low business day for them to the point they didn’t even want to pay for the cost of staying open. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/6 "2002-03-25T04:56:21Z")
My mom was a beautician/hair stylist, and she closed her shop on Sunday and Monday for her “weekend”. Usually, the ladies would have their hair done on Friday or Saturday (the busiest days), and that would leave Sun+Mon free. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/7 "2002-03-25T05:04:32Z")
The barbers belong to a union, which always seemed weird to me, since even the owner of the shop belongs. They are supposed to be closed on Mondays, you know union rules. This got rather messed up, when beauty shops, which didn’t belong to the union, started cutting men’s hair. I can remember when I was younger and worried about haircuts, how horrible Monday was since you couldn’t hide and couldn’t get a haircut. Thank goodness for the beauty shop trend. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/8 "2002-03-25T07:40:47Z")
It always made sense to me that barbers want a two-day weekend, but can’t afford to be closed on Saturdays, when the great majority of customers would want to come in. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/9 "2002-03-25T15:09:03Z")
Thread-jacking: Car Dealers and Sunday’s: Is this related to old Sunday “blue laws”…? And as long as they all stay closed on Sunday, no one is hurt…but if just one dealer opens on Sunday, then they all have to open on Sunday, so it’s not like any dealer will get an advantage by opening on Sunday…so it’s best left alone… right? Barbers: just makes sense to be open on Saturday and make a weekend out of Sunday and Monday. Many couldn’t be open on Sunday (local laws) and business-wise, Saturday is the money day. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/10 "2002-03-25T19:36:46Z")
I lived in Cincinnati, many years ago, before beauty shops got involved in cutting men’s hair. Back then you would have been considered some kind of nut to go to a beauty parlor. Anyway, a barbershop in our area decided to open on Monday. It didn’t last long, until the shop was vandalized. The fact is that they had defied the barber’s union and they paid the consequences. Most of your barbers today are from back then and so the “custom” continues. There is no doubt that taking Monday off makes more sense than Saturday, but there was more behind it than just plain common sense. ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/11 "2002-03-25T20:23:44Z")
Most golf coursed near my home are also closed on Mondays as well as most public pools and rec centers. I suspect it is because they all require regular maintenance and Monday is the day with the least demand so it is the day to be closed. That seems plausable but way too easy… there’s got to be some greater conspiracy behind it all.🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Opengrave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/919ad9/32.png) [@Opengrave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Opengrave)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/barber-shops-and-mondays/99909/12 "2002-03-25T20:29:27Z")
Most golf coursed near my home are also closed on Mondays as well as most public pools and rec centers. I suspect it is because they all require regular maintenance and Monday is the day with the least demand so it is the day to be closed. That seems plausable but way too easy… there’s got to be some greater conspiracy behind it all.🙂