How a Valley Village barber is making a comeback after a car crashed into business
Article via Los Angeles Daily News
By Gregory J. Wilcox, Los Angeles Daily News
Christopher Styles is getting ready for a party to celebrate a special return.
Christopher Styles Barber Spa, which offers a variety of services, including straight razor shaves, is back in its original location in the 4800 block Whitsett Avenue in Valley Village.
The shop, which opened three years ago, is hosting a grand re-opening party on Saturday that will feature treats for kids during the day and cocktail party for adults in the evening.
Styles remembers with vivid clarity the event last year that put his Valley Village hair salon in temporary quarters.
“It was around 5 p.m. on Sept. 3, a Thursday,” he said during an interview last week. “We heard a lot of banging outside and it got our attention, but I didn’t know what was going on. Then I heard several loud bangs that sounded like gunshots.”
A woman’s car had gone out of control in the parking lot in front of the store.
“She went forward and crashed into the liquor store, panicked and put it into reverse and hit four cars and then she came into our shop. She came in backwards,” Styles said.
When the dust and debris settled, a 2004 gray Lexus ES 330 was parked in the middle of the shop.
The stylist who’s station is closest to the door was off that day and nobody was injured.
But another one saw what was happening.
“She saw the actual car coming in, and so she alerted a client. ... ‘Hey, move!’ and so they ran towards the back. Luckily, they got away. The car stopped right where they were sitting,” he told CBSLA.com at the time.
The shop closed down on that Friday so it could be cleaned up and the work area rearranged.
It reopened on Saturday.
“Fifty percent of the shop was damaged, so we worked on the other side with boards on the windows. The floor was messed up and about half of the ceiling had fallen,” he recalled.
Then more bad news arrived. The shop had structural damage and it had to be closed while the repairs were made.
So on Sept. 30 the barber spa relocated to Sola Salon Studios in Sherman Oaks, rental space outfitted for and rented to hair stylists.
This was an adjustment for Styles and the nine employees.
“We had room for two people at a time so we had to rotate and we lost a lot of clients,” Styles said. “I took a lot of the business loss insurance to pay them. We worked three days per person. We made it work, I kept my staff and we got back into the shop.”
That happened on Dec. 14.
And so far the repair bill, covered by insurance, is about $500,000, he said.
“We did a full remodel and changed some things around, but the stress of the it made it tough. Everything seems to be back to normal and we made it through a transformative event together and we’re trying to get the word out that we’re back.”
So if you get a chance, drop by on Saturday. Daytime events start at 10 a.m. and the cocktail party is at 7 p.m.
