Though Big Green Cuts may be the newest haircutting place in town, its owner is certainly no stranger to the Hanover barbering scene.
Trudy Clough said she saw a business opportunity and took it, leaving her former employer, Walt and Ernie's Barber Shop for her new store on Main Street.
"There were no hard feelings" Clough said of her decision to leave her four-year employer. "I wanted to own my own business eventually, but Bob [Walt and Ernie's owner] was not ready to sell."
So Clough quit her job on June 27, secured a loan and put a down-payment on 68 Main Street.
She moved into the building where The Good Earth is located, across the street from FoodStop.
The Good Earth is now in the back of Big Green Cuts.
Carol from Walt and Ernie's confirmed that store employees have no hard feelings for Clough.
For five days beginning July 1, Clough said she and her husband worked from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. setting the store up.
They moved The Good Earth's inventory to the back of the store, laid down a linoleum floor, set up barber chairs and installed other haircutting aids.
"We worked hard for five days, resting only on the fourth," Clough said in an interview in her store last week as she cut a customer's hair.
Clough scurried to have everything ready for the New Hampshire Board of Cosmetology and Barbering. On July 6, it gave her permission to cut hair.
Big Green Cuts is technically not a barber shop because Clough only has a license in cosmetology.
But she maintains the store is "strictly a haircutting shop." She charges nine dollars per cut and even gives discounts to men who are balding.
Although she calls Big Green Cuts a barber shop, Clough says her clientele is not completely male.
"I have had a lot of women come in who realize you can get a good haircut," she said.
She said she has even recognized some old Walt and Ernie's customers.
The shop, which has a large storefront window, is sparsely decorated with some potted plants and a few pictures.
Clough has installed two barber chairs, one for adults and one for children.
The air-conditioned shop even has a bucket of Legos to entertain the children.
In the future she said she hopes to install another adult barber chair and hire another hair cutter.
"I know a couple of people who are interested in working," she said,
"Business is going really well without a lot of advertising" Clough said. She attributes this to the good location and the storefront window.
