Invest Atlanta loan helps barbershop reopen with safety precautions in place

“We were a resource for the city’s businesses before the coronavirus pandemic,” said Matt Fogt, vice president of member care for Invest Atlanta, a government authority composed of the Urban Residential Finance Authority, Downtown Development Authority and the Atlanta Economic Renaissance Corporation. “We want people to know that we’re helping some business owners that had to close unexpectedly because of the virus.”

Invest Atlanta, established through special legislation, is governed by a nine-member board of directors, chaired by the mayor of Atlanta. “The mayor has been wonderfully supportive. With her help we have been able to quickly get help to businesses affected by the health crisis,” Fogt said.

An example is Rolando Rubi, owner of The Trophy Room Barber Shop, a neighborhood barber shop in Kirkwood. Rubi described his shop as “more than a place where men can get a great haircut. Our focus is really building relationships with our clients. I feel we give back to Kirkwood just that. A very safe, clean, fun place to get a haircut but also a place where the neighbors have a chance to meet each other and create their own type of community,” he said in a news release.

Invest Atlanta had provided Rubi with a business loan when he opened his shop in 2014. “He was great to work with—his is exactly the type of business our programs are designed to help,” Fogt said, noting that the Trophy Room Barber Shop was the 2017 winner of Invest Atlanta’s Community Favorite Award.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, personal services businesses such as the Trophy Room had to close to make adjustments that would allow them to operate in a way that protects the health of customers and employees. Rubi, who had repaid his original loan, again turned to Invest Atlanta, which provided a $25,000 loan from its Business Community Loan Fund. “We had several programs already in place,” Fogt said, noting that Invest Atlanta creates programs and initiatives focused on developing and fostering public-private partnerships to accelerate job creation/economic growth, neighborhood revitalization/investment, and innovation/entrepreneurship. “The Business Community Loan Fund is the one that was best suited for his situation.”

In addition to needing to pay business bills when the shop was closed, Rubi had to modify the shop to assure social distancing, purchase personal protection equipment and such items as infrared thermometers and air purifiers.

Rubi explained that the Trophy Room had always been an appointment-only shop, but the new business model required that only two barbers at a time work in the shop. He said client safety and infection control have always been “paramount to the field of cosmetology,” and the additional precautions take the normal care to another level.

When The Trophy Room opened its door again in early June, Rubi, who offered homemade cookies to welcome customers back, said he reopened “confident that barbering is an economically stable industry where we can safely return and make an honest living.” He recalled that he and his staff called all of the shop’s regular clients to invite them to return. Rubi said Trophy Room’s loyal customer base helped support the shop during the weeks it was closed by purchasing gift cards as well as tipping the individual barbers “very generously” through Venmo. 

Rubi said although the business turn came unexpectedly, he remained positive and optimistic, which he said has kept him “solvent financially, emotionally, or spiritually. I chose the positive route,” he noted, adding he is pleased that his staff member did not take side-jobs while the shop was closed. By waiting until the shop reopened, they were “doing their part to help flatten the curve,” he said. “Slow and steady always wins the race, and that’s what we are doing. We are adjusting what works and changing what doesn’t.”