Sharp & Co. opened in 2011 with one chair and one idea: take your time, do it right, and the rest takes care of itself.
Marco opened Sharp & Co. in a former bodega on Atlantic Avenue with $4,000 in savings, one barber chair he'd refurbished himself, and a hand-painted sign in the window.
The shop was the size of a parking spot. There was no website, no Instagram, no booking system. Just Marco, a pair of scissors his grandfather brought from Sicily, and a steady stream of curious neighbors poking their heads in to ask what was happening.
By the end of the first month, he had a regular Tuesday client. By the end of the year, he was booked out three weeks ahead.
By 2017 the line out the door was getting embarrassing. Marco knocked through to the unit next door, brought on Sal — who'd just finished his apprenticeship at Vidal Sassoon in Manhattan — and added two more chairs.
The trick was scaling without losing what made the place worth visiting. No corporate playbook, no "experience packages," no upselling. Just three good barbers, doing good work, at honest prices.
The neighborhood noticed. Yelp called us "the best fade in Brooklyn." The Times listed us in their "Best of NYC." We stopped advertising in 2018 and haven't started again.
It's 2026. We've turned down two offers from chains looking to franchise. We've turned down sponsorship deals. We've turned down a podcast.
What we haven't turned down: regulars who've been coming since the bodega days. Dads who first came in for a junior cut and now bring their own kids. Grooms who book us a year in advance for wedding-week trims.
Three barbers. Six services. Same standard for every chair, every cut. We'll be here.
45 minutes per cut, minimum. We won't rush you out for the next chair. We won't squeeze in walk-ins past capacity.
No "celebrity rates," no "lawyer discounts," no surge pricing. The price on the menu is the price you pay.
Come back within a week and we'll re-cut for free. No questions, no awkwardness. Mistakes happen.
No investors, no franchising, no acquisitions. We answer to our customers and nobody else.
We sharpen our shears daily, hone our razors weekly, and study new techniques constantly. The work matters.
Three barbers, same block, every week, for fifteen years. Continuity is the whole game.