It's May 2025, and a small business is about to change hands in Birkenhead. What makes this story unusual is that this business, Corner Barbers, was the first barber shop to open in Birkenhead and has been owned by the same family since 1930.
Horace “Diddy” Burford opened Corner Barbers in October 1930. We talked to Laurel Hall, Diddy’s daughter, who currently owns the business.
Was starting a business in the depression difficult?
“Well, it took some guts to do it, but he knew he needed to help out his family.” Locals from Northcote, the family was feeling the effects of the depression, and Diddy, who had just finished his barbering apprenticeship, was the only one of the eight with the opportunity to earn a living.
Corner Barbers started at 8 Birkenhead Ave, in the spot that is now Coffix. Business was slow in those tough times. Often, people didn’t have money to pay for a cut, so they would bring Diddy some home-grown vegetables or fruit from their gardens. And then there were the ones who Diddy suspected had nothing to give. He would tell them he would toss a coin to see who would pay for the haircut, and somehow, invariably, it ended up being on the house.
They called Birkenhead “Sugartown” back when Diddy first opened the shop, and he would start work very early in the morning so he could catch the sugar workers on their way to the Chelsea Sugar Refinery. When business was slow, the local shop owners liked to have some fun when they could. “A bunch of the shop owners and staff would play football on the street in front of the shops. They had to keep one eye on their front doors and if a customer walked in, off they’d dash to serve the customer, leaving their team in the lurch!”
In 1935, Mr Brown, the chemist, moved out of the corner site at 6 Birkenhead Ave, and Diddy took the opportunity to move into larger premises.
What major changes did Diddy see?
Fashions changed over the years; at first, crew cuts and buzz cuts were popular, then flat-tops became fashionable as Kiwis saw the haircuts that looked so smart on the visiting US soldiers. New haircuts emerged in the '60s, like the mop-top, for example, inspired by The Beatles, sending many barbers off to do crash courses in the new haircuts. Then came the 1970s; barbering slowed through this period as many men were wearing their hair and beards longer. A constant in the shop was the shaves. Diddy used a cutthroat razor until the 1960s at least. While his skills were still sharp, customers then were less sure about the practice.
Over the years, Diddy took on four apprentices who he helped learn the craft as well as the workings of a small business. He also had other professional barbers who worked beside him. It was always a happy and friendly environment where barbers liked to have a laugh with each other and with the customers, and Laurel remembers a time when her father’s colleague, Peter, laughed so hard at one of Diddy’s remarks that he had to be helped outside. He was crying-laughing so hard he couldn’t catch a breath!
In 1980, Corner Barbers had another first – they had the first female barber in Auckland, possibly in New Zealand. Debbie worked out of Corner Barbers for 26 years and became like another daughter to Diddy.
A new era for the business
Diddy passed away in 2004. It was a sad time for the family and the customers who knew him so well. Laurel completed a barbering course and took over the shop, keeping the 70-plus-year family business going. In 2006, she gutted the store and refitted it, removing all tobacco products and making the salon area larger.
Laurel has enjoyed her 21 years of owning the store. Like Diddy, many of her customers have become friends, and she has shared many of their ups and downs as they have related their stories to her from the barber’s chair. But it is time to move on, and she is very glad to have found a new owner for the store with all the credentials to take it into the future.
Anaru Padgett is the new owner of Corner Barbers, and according to Laurel, he is a very versatile young man. They have worked together in the shop for the past month as they have prepared for the handover. “He is skilled in many different styles of haircuts and can converse with anyone. I believe he will bring in a new clientele for his skills in fades and beards, and I know he will take great care of my current clients.”
Anaru has been barbering for seven years and in that time has worked in 40 barbershops, learning many skills, including zero fades, skin fades, burst fades, and taper fades. He loves the fact that he has bought a business with such a long family history, and while he brings new skills to the business, he is keen to keep Corner Barbers as a traditional barber shop. Maybe he will one day have children who also want to be barbers, and the barbershop will again be passed down the generations.
Laurel has her own good wishes for Anaru to share with us. “As a family, we wish Anaru all the best for the next era of Corner Barbers, and we hope he enjoys many happy years of barbering just like Diddy.”
