Photo by Jesse Chambers.
Robert Creel, a barber for more than 50 years, at work in VIP Styling Center.
“I just consider myself an old barber,” said Robert Creel, owner of VIP Styling Center for Men.
But Creel is perhaps a bit too modest, according to loyal customers at the shop at 2805 Crescent Ave.
“What makes him a good barber is that he still puts the time and energy into making it right,” said Taylor Bartlett, who’s been coming to Creel for five years.
“He’s very good at his profession — very consistent, very patient,” said Jerry McWilliams, a VIP customer for more than 30 years.
“I enjoy his conversation, and I always get a good haircut quickly,” said Butch Wear, a Brook Highland resident who’s used Creel for 25 years.
Creel, 76, is also worthy of respect for the many decades he’s spent plying his trade. A barber since 1965, he began working at VIP in October 1966, making him a Homewood fixture for five decades.
He said he never thought he would be there that long.
“Fifty years,” Creel said. “It’s hard to believe.”
But the Brent native is clearly happy about his choice of career, largely due to the relationships he enjoys with his customers, he said.
“I meet a lot of interesting people, like Taylor,” Creel said as he cut Bartlett’s hair. “I don’t know where I could have met so many people I like if I hadn’t been a barber.”
He also said he enjoys stimulating discussions with customers.
“You learn a lot of different things,” he said.
“Lately, it’s been politics,” Creel added, when asked to name some popular conversation topics.
The late Bill Plott opened VIP in 1964 and sold it in the early 1970s to the late Drennan Lyle, according to Creel. He said the business had two prior Homewood locations before moving to Crescent Avenue in 2000.
Creel bought VIP 10 years ago and is now the only barber in the two-chair shop. Creel lives in Helena with his wife, June. They have two grown children, Walt and Barbara.
Most of Creel’s customers are longtime regulars, according to McWilliams.
“And most of them have gray hair,” said Creel, who noted that Bartlett, a young Birmingham attorney, is one of the few exceptions.
The barber trade has changed over the years, according to Creel.
“When I started, it was just regular haircuts,” he said, noting that men soon began wearing their hair longer and asking for more styling. “All the barbers used to want to cut the hair off. Then we cut the long hair.”
When he began, Creel — like other barbers in the days before electric razors and disposable blades — offered shaves with an old-fashioned straight razor, but it’s now been years since he shaved anyone.
“And the last time I did, it was with a safety razor,” he said.
Creel describes VIP as “just a regular barber shop” and said places like his are disappearing.
“Sooner or later, there won’t be any [barber] shops,” he said, adding that they are being supplanted by other hair salons and stylists.
But Creel said he has no plans to retire.
“If I didn’t work, I wouldn’t meet so many interesting people,” he said. “I’ve got some nice customers.”
Creel said he also enjoys helping men look their best.
“When you finish cutting someone’s hair and it looks good, it’s rewarding,” he said.
And his regulars will keep coming, it seems, drawn by Creel’s care and professionalism.
“He spends more time than anybody else,” Bartlett said.
“As far as I’m concerned, he’s the best in town,” McWilliams said.
And Wear offered another good reason to remain a Creel regular. “The biggest thing is my wife approves of the haircut,” he said, laughing.
VIP Men’s Styling Center
WHERE: 2805 Crescent Ave.
HOURS: Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.
CALL: 870-8920
