As Jerri Heacock began her job at the East Cobb Barber Shop Saturday morning, she was greeted by customers without appointments.
They weren’t walk-up clients, but regulars whose hair she had just cut, and she wondered what was up.
Some were bearing gifts and roses, and before long her co-workers had rolled out some cupcakes, balloons, and a signed card.
Her boss, owner Dee Reitz, had organized a surprise to mark Heacock’s 20th anniversary working for the old-style barber shop, and kept the secret well.
“I kind of had a hint,” Heacock said, but admitted she was still surprised when the full party complement was unveiled.
She’s the longest-serving stylist under Reitz, who took over the more than 37-year-old business in 2000. Heacock has the honor of working at “the first chair.”
That’s literally the first person customers see when they walk in the doors of the 600-square-foot space at Merchants Festival Shopping Center.
Usually that goes to a barber shop owner, but Reitz said Heacock has earned it.
“She just always has a smile, really knows how to build a rapport with customers. That’s why she’s the first chair.”
Heacock attended Roffler’s Barber College and had worked at other barber shops when she heard about an opening at East Cobb Barber Shop.“I just called and said I needed a job,” said Heacock, who was a single mother at the time.
That was on a Thursday, and two days later, she was working a chair on a trial basis. Initially she worked three days a week, but has been full time for many years.
The East Cobb Barber Shop, Heacock said, “just became family. It’s homey.”
She and Reitz are best friends, and when “you spend so much time with them they become family. It feels like home.”
Reitz and her staff of three stylists were rocked when the COVID-19 pandemic was declared in March 2020. The shop was closed for a month, but Heacock came back after two months, bored at home and itching to see her clients.
“I missed my customers,” she said. “You get real close to them, and that’s why I love to do what I do.”
Customer John Galt, Heacock’s last of the day on Saturday, is among the regulars. He said he’s not coming as frequently as he once did—around every three weeks or so—but knows who he wants to see when he does come.
“I first started coming because it was so convenient,” said Galt, who lives in East Cobb. “Jerri has been good to me.”
He’s also a retired from the U.S. Army, and East Cobb Barber Shop reaches out to military veterans.
Reitz said she’s appreciated Heacock’s longevity not just because of her work ethic and the time it takes time to build up a loyal clientele, but also because it’s difficult to hire and keep good stylists.
“I’ve had several people where it just didn’t work out,” Reitz said. “I don’t like turnover.”
Having a reliable, friendly and familiar face “makes people feel comfortable.”
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