Mother-daughter duo open new barbershop in Kalispell

The walls of Kalispell Barber Company are covered in mementos. From American flags to flowers to photos of family members in the Armed Forces to a pin board where customers can hang their memorabilia, it embodies a classic barbershop. 

Owners Amanda Scarlett and Katrina Harris — mother and daughter — both licensed barbers, want that atmosphere to feel evident. The pair opened the shop on First Avenue East in November after more than 30 years in the barber business. Throughout the years, although the family moved multiple times, barbershops were always a constant.  

Scarlett, born and raised in Michigan, met her husband, Alan, at a barbershop in the 1990s after he joined the Navy. Scarlett, who originally got her barber certification because she needed to provide for her family as a single mother and it was a quick way to do so, connected with Alan while he sat in her chair for his weekly trims to stay up to regulations. 

“We never really wanted for anything; we had everything we needed,” Harris said reflecting on her mother’s work that inspired her career path. “She made everything happen for us as a single parent being a barber, and that's kind of why I followed in her footsteps. I watched her work her butt off my entire life.” 

Although Scarlett never had an innate need to cut or style hair, she discovered she was quite good at it over time. As her experience expanded, so did the passion for the craft and the community connections that came as a result.  

When Harris herself became a single mother, Scarlett encouraged her to obtain a barber certification to help provide for her family. From there, the familial partnership took off. 

“For some reason, I just love it. It’s not a struggle for me to go to work,” Harris said, sitting in one of their two vintage barber chairs in the Kalispell shop. 

Before that, in 2008, when the economy went belly up, she said, Scarlett and her family moved to Kentucky, where she worked for a shop that was across the street from a military base. 

“It was a lot of military haircuts,” Scarlett said, sometimes over 30 a day.  

They then moved to Indiana in 2016, and Scarlett joined the team at a local barbershop, one that had been open since 1954. At first, Scarlett’s chair sat empty as guests, many of whom had gone to the shop for decades, shied away from a new barber’s chair. And Scarlett’s chair was unique as a female too, as barbershops were often thought of as places for men historically.  

But once the first person sat down, her chair was full from then on. 

After the owner of the Indianapolis shop died, Harris and Scarlett took over, running and operating the business as their own with the same clientele, maintaining it as a thriving barbershop. 

In August, the family moved to Kalispell to be closer to her husband’s parents. Another move boasted a hopeful and ambitious goal: starting their own barbershop from scratch. 

“This is a little bit of different territory for us,” Scarlett said.  

But they hope that the haircuts will speak for themselves, with everyone walking away feeling fresh, clean and understood.  

“This is what it's about, the community aspects, the connections, and being able to be there for firsts, for a first haircut to a haircut for wedding, and you get to be a part of it,” Harris said.  

The shop offers standard haircuts for $25 and military or first responder haircuts for $20. The shop provides cuts, full face shaves, haircut and shave combinations and neck and beard line ups. The pair excels in tight and clean looks, but is comfortable cutting other hair styles, such as mullets.  

They also are always willing to work with a client to ensure that they understand the vision. At the end of the day, Scarlett and Harris said, the goal is to make sure the client is happy.  

The shop is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 337 1st Ave E. in Kalispell. While walk-ins are welcome, appointments can be scheduled at kalispellbarbercompany.glossgenius.com. 

The pair hopes the shop, small with green walls and two vintage barber chairs, becomes a place where connections are made.  

Reporter Kate Heston may be reached at 758-4459 or kheston@dailyinterlake.com.

    Kalispell Barber Company is a two chair barber shop in Kalispell. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Amanda Scarlett points toward a board at Kalispell Barber Company where veterans and others can put patches. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Kalispell Barber Company is a two chair barber shop in Kalispell. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    Amanda Scarlett, left, and her daughter Katrina Harris, right, in their newly opened Kalispell barber shop, Kalispell Barber Company. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
  

    A vintage barber seat at Kalispell Barber Company in Kalispell. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)