November 21, 2007 -- By Liz Prato

A funny thing happened on the way to the 21st Century: Our male hunters decided they wanted a place to gather with like-minded guys for grooming. Once upon a time they went to corner barbershops for simple haircuts and shaves, and talked about who’s playing quarterback for Notre Dame. Then, one day, some well-meaning female said, “You know, I think you’d like . . . ,” and everything changed.

Suddenly men populated salons and spas for haircuts and pedicures and facials. They bought gel and mousse and pomade. But for some men, all was not perfect. While waiting for their appointment, they had a choice between reading articles like “30 Tips to Slim Your Hips” or eavesdropping on conversations about how menopause changes your skin and hair. In the meantime, they were wondering how the pennant race was coming along. They wanted a beer.

Guys can thank their lucky stars that a market rose to fill the gap with salons and upscale barbershops catering exclusively to their Y chromosomes. Celeste Trapp was on a roadtrip in a red convertible Mustang with friends when she proposed the idea of a sophisticated, yet inviting, grooming shop for men. She envisioned a male oasis where “Every Man is King,” and HairM was born. With shops in downtown Portland and Beaverton, Hair M offers everything from barbershop classics like a haircut or a hot-towel shave, to spa services like back waxing, “gray camouflage,” and hand and foot detailing (that’s a fancy way of saying mani- and pedicures for dudes), plus massage, botox and microdermabrasion.

But the best part: Every guy gets a complimentary beverage (including beer on tap), can watch sports, log on to wi-fi or enjoy a good cigar. And there’s no need to miss the third quarter during their haircut with a private satellite TV at every station.

Marco Sisson, owner of Chopperz, also wanted to offer haircuts and shaves in a place where guys could just be guys. And by Sisson’s way of thinking, “No guy wants to see his buddy get his toes done.” What he wants to do is “Hang out, watch sports, argue about draft picks and talk about cars with other guys.”

Chopperz offers two services: quality straight razor shaves and haircuts, with beer, music and sports on TV. It’s a laid-back atmosphere that caters to everyone from construction workers to business executives, and Sisson has trained his staff to work with all hair types — including African American, Asian and Latino — “so no guy feels excluded.”

Antonio Osegura always wanted to open a barbershop, like the one where he worked at back home in McMinnville. But Antonio’s Barbershop has brought the spinning barbershop pole into the modern era. Men sit in massage chairs in front of a TV or enjoy a free drink by a fireplace while they wait for their appointment. They can even drop off their dry cleaning or shoes to be shined, thanks to the shop’s convenient location inside Estes Men’s Clothing. And with 17th Avenue Salon adjacent, couples can get groomed separately, but equally. “A lot of couples come here for dates,” Oseguera notes. “Women sit in the massage chairs and have a drink while they wait for their guy, or they can go next door and get their own service, and vice-versa.”

Okay, so we’re clearly starting to move away from the No Girls Allowed barbershop model. It turns out some of our hunters don’t mind the womenfolk and young ‘uns around during their grooming rituals. In that spirit, The Vital Barbershop is a place “Built for men, but loved by the whole family,” says owner Eliot Wajskol.

A few years ago he was in a pub in Ireland watching a rugby match with friends, when he realized people kept streaming in and out of the pub. He decided to follow them and found they were going to the neighborhood barbershop; it was just as much a place for people to meet and talk as the pub. As a guy who considers getting a haircut a distress purchase (“It ranks right up there with paying my taxes”), Wajskol realized that if the barbershop was a fun, friendly place, men would actually enjoy going there. Women and kids are welcome at The Vital Barbershop (a kid’s first cut is on the house), and you get a free drink when you walk in the door. Oh, and there are no TVs; that way everyone can talk and feel part of the community.

What all these shops have in common in that they want to provide more than just a good haircut or shave or pedicure: They want to give men an experience. They want to provide a place where men can be themselves, feel welcome and relax. While having a beer, of course.