‘A legacy is shutting down’: Dan’s Barbershop closes on North Monroe

At Dan’s Barbershop, the mint green barber chairs hold removable pans for cigarette ashes.

Photographs displaying the beloved personalities of the past decorate its walls, documenting its nearly seven decades serving north Spokane.

But Saturday, barbers were expected to sweep the checkered linoleum floors one last time. The closure ends an era started in 1957 by its founder, the late Dionisios “Dan” Flambouras.

”A legacy is shutting down,” customer Brent Calderhead said.

The longtime patron had been receiving his “military style” haircut at the location for about a decade.

Calderhead sat in the chair of Brian “Dr. Fade” Ottosen, Dan’s longest-tenured barber. He’s named for the fade haircut technique that tapers hair so it eventually “fades” into the skin.

For 16 years, Ottosen has been professionally cutting hair at the iconic location, 3301 N. Monroe St., at the base of the north hill.

Until recently, he never pictured it closing.

“We used to have nine chairs going at once, and every chair was full,” Ottosen said.

Some days, the cutters at Dan’s would perform as many as 140 haircuts.

“You used to have to take a ticket number and sit down and wait in line,” Ottosen said. “I don’t know what happened.”

The operation hit hard times after COVID-19, he said. A rumor that the business had closed was compounded by an inoperable phone.

Contrary to its buzzing past, the shop last week stood mostly empty. Its east-facing windows let in the early sun, and plants filled the unused space.

Now, only three barbers cut at the shop, according to the barbershop’s manager, Gail Duncan.

Duncan had assigned herself the caretaking duties of the flora.

She’s worked at Dan’s for about 10 years. Kokoe Rowley has been there on and off for about 20 years, and Meagan Bloom for about four years.

“We’ve got Brian, Kokoe and Purple,” Duncan said, using Bloom’s nickname because of her obsession with the color. “But sometimes I’ll step in.”

In recent years, the each of the shop’s barbers set their own prices. But prices previously were uniform. In 2017, for instance, all of Dan’s barbers charged $10.50 for a regular cut, according to a Spokesman-Review report. And up until Dan’s closed, they had no capability of processing card payment.

Rowley said customers are not only losing their location for a cheap haircut, but their favorite meeting place, as well.

“Some of the guys that come in don’t even get a haircut – they just want to hang out,” she said.

As Rowley spoke, she scraped an old glued-on picture of herself, from years prior, off the wall.

Customers not only developed relationships with fellow patrons, but they came to know their barbers, who they visited – sometimes for decades.

“We’re the cheapest therapists in the world,” Rowley said, laughing.

Ottosen agreed.

“Customers will tell you anything,” he said. “I remember one time, a guy came in and told me he was burying his wife the next day.”

The man came to get a haircut because he had nowhere else to go.

“He told me because he couldn’t open up to anyone else,” Ottosen said. “He started crying then soon, heck, I started crying.”

After Flambouras died in 2008, the business changed hands a few times until his son, Frank Flambouras, took over.

He ran the operation until recently when he took ill. He died in July. That’s when his son, Darryl Flambouras, Dan’s grandson, took over.

Darryl has never received a haircut from anyone else in his life.

“I’ve spent my whole life here,” Darryl Flambouras said as he stood in a wide stance with his arms crossed.

He wore knee pads because he had just been crawling around the shed behind the business.

He was cleaning it ahead of the closure.

Closing the historic shop was not his decision. That fell on his half-sister, Sarah Flambouras, who was appointed by a Spokane County Superior Court judge in October to be the personal representative of the property.

According to Darryl Flambouras, it is Sarah Flambouras’ intent to sell the property. Each of the eight descendants will share a portion of money raised from the sale.

Meagan Bennett, attorney for the estate, declined to discuss the case. Attempts made to reach Sarah Flambouras were unsuccessful.

Darryl Flambouras opposes the closure of his family’s operation. And so does his sister, Denise Flambouras.

“I just thought it would be here forever. I mean, they lived right there,” she said , pointing to a section of the building protruding out of the shop’s southernmost wall.

Dan and his wife, Elaine Flambouras, resided in the addition, she said.

The couple also added a salon to the property.

Elaine Flambouras worked as a beautician at the salon for 20 years, according to her obituary.

“I’ve always known this to be a home away from home. It’s been here my whole life,” granddaughter Denise Flambouras said. “I mean, there’s a picture of me in there as just a little girl.”

As Darryl Flambouras nodded in agreement, a fluffy gray cat rubbed its face and midsection on his lower leg. He smiled and bent down to greet the feline.

“This is Meow Meow Kitty,” he said. The cat has resided at the shop for about four years. Darryl Flambouras will take the stray in now.

The fluffy cat is not to be confused with a previous feline resident, Laney, named after Elaine Flambouras. Laney was a regular at the location for about a decade.

The shop has hosted other cats, even a dog at one time.

Similar to the four-legged residents, barbers have come and gone, as well.

Ottosen said that is how the industry works. Hair professionals work at different shops until they earn a large enough following to open their own location.

Bloom is leasing space at 5524 N. Ash St. Ottosen will continue his career in his home, at 1318 W. Knox Ave.

Rowley is going back to her previous career as an accountant.

Ottosen said he can’t envision himself putting down the clippers.

“Until I can’t,” he said. “Barbers don’t retire. They die.”