A final cut

Tariq Malik

Frenchy Beardeaux is giving himself a jobcut.

This weekend, after 35 years serving as a Surf City family barber,

Frenchy Beardeaux will set aside his scissors and comb for good, the last

haircut already reserved for his Saturday closing.

His customers turned out for a barbecue in front of his shop,

Frenchy’s Family Barbershop, last week, and another is set for Saturday

afternoon.

“This city’s been good to me,” said Beardeaux, 67, surveying his shop

with many of its contents already packed away. “I guess I’m sort of a

pack rat.”

Until recently, framed barbershop cartoons lined the walls of

Beardeaux’s narrow shop at 6411 Edinger Ave., along with a large

collection of family photos chronicling his life with wife Audra, 69, his

six children and 15 grandchildren. Now, the picture frames lie in stacks,

paintings lean against the walls they once hung from and, piece by piece,

his shop is closing down.

“It’s about that time, I think,” Beardeaux said with a playful smile.

“There’s a lot my wife and I would like to do while we can both still

walk.”

After all these years, for his customers Beardeaux’s retirement means

more than just finding a new place to get a haircut.

“It’s the end of an era, I feel like I’m getting my last haircut,”

said resident John Bandy, who’s hair was trimmed short. “I’ve been coming

here for the last 20 years . . . I grew up at this shop.”

Bandy said he lives just a few blocks away from the barber shop, which

is more of a social gathering place to talk with others in the community,

and Frenchy himself, than just a place to get a haircut.

“It’s as much a part of Americana as the Fourth of July parade here in

Huntington Beach,” said fellow customer and resident Dave Kuntz of

Beardeaux’s shop. “I don’t even want to think about looking for a new

barber.”

Kuntz heard about the shop from a neighbor in 1988, and brought his

two sons, now in their 20s, there since they were 5 years old.

“It’s comfortable, and old fashioned . . . all it needs is a spinning

barber’s pole and it would be complete,” Bandy said.

The shop, itself, has a certain incomplete feeling, with a mishmash of

furniture that seemed cobbled together over the years. Bluegrass music

falls from above, pumped out of a set of large speakers mounted to the

ceiling.

The name Frenchy, Beardeaux added, is just a nickname he picked up in

his home state of Louisiana, primarily because of his French heritage.

His first name is Martin.

Beardeaux’s hair-trimming life began about 36 years ago, after he met

his wife in Long Beach.

“Everyone needs a trade,” he said. “I wanted to do something I enjoy,

that’s important you know, and I really enjoyed this.”

After working under a barber at his present location, Beardeaux bought

the shop and lived in the city until his move to Carlsbad 15 years ago.

His children all graduated from Edison High school, and he has fond

memories of the city during its less-developed times.

The housing tract across the street from the shop was a bean field 35

years ago, and every morning he had to vacuum up the dirt that traveled

across the street.”The city has grown since then, but it’s only getting

better,” he added. “And besides, I love the beach.”