Get Your Sports and Haircut at the Same Place

If you call the new Sport Clips location that just opened up in Lake Zurich, a voice greets you with, "It's good to be a guy."

That slogan is reinforced when you enter the hair-cutting salon, a heavily sports-themed outpost on Rand Road outfitted with one 60-inch flat-screen television in the reception area and four 32-inch flat-screens in the 8-station salon.

There's never a need to miss a moment of Bears, Hawks, Bulls, Cubs or Sox action while you get a new hairdo or maintain your existing look. All sets are tuned to ESPN and the like.

"It's all sports, all the time," said manager Lani Palomares. "Our mission is to create a championship haircut experience for men and boys."

Palomares, who transferred from the Wheaton Sport Clips location after managing that salon for five years, said the franchise is 700 stores strong nationwide. In Illinois, Sport Clips has opened 52 locations.

Owners of the Lake Zurich shop, Pete and Gail DeMarco, have plans on the drawing board for two more locations in Chicago's northwest suburbs, she said.

The concept, she said, is designed to provide quick cuts in a palpably masculine environment. The 1,350-square-foot store is decorated with Chicago sports team logos and a panoramic wall mural of a lighted stadium at night.

The four-bowl shampoo area is called "the showers." And the stylists wear sports-themed uniforms, dressed as referees or bowlers.

Palomares said Sport Clips provides a clean, pristine environment. Instead of using brooms to sweep up hair, the salon uses central vacuums. New equipment, such as combs, is used for each new customer.

Haircuts are the store's signature service.

"We do no chemical services at all," said Palomares.

Customers may choose  a "varsity" cut, which includes a consultation. Or, they can kick it up a notch and go for the "triple play haircut" which adds a scalp massage and a hot, steamed towel to the service. For those who want to spend a little extra and splurge, there's the "MVP haircut" which adds a neck and shoulder massage and a leave-in conditioner.

Palomares is a veteran stylist.

"I probably did 4,000 haircuts last year," she said. "Men are a lot easier to deal with. They're less picky, (have) easier conversations, are more laid-back."

These days, she said, boys in the 9-to-17-year-old age group are following pop trends.

"A lot of people are getting that shaggy, Justin Bieber look," she said. Older boys and young adults, she said, are partial to the "messy spiker, faux-hawk," look, which is a wider version of the Mohawk.

Adults tend to stick with basic scissor cuts, she said, that take hair off the ears and collar and trim the top.

Cuts include complimentary neck and sideburn trims for up to 30 days after the haircut, she said.

No appointments are necessary; Palomares said walk-ins typically wait no longer than 15 or 20 minutes.

Just three days after the store's October 1 opening, Lake Zurich resident Scott Godsey decided to try Sport Clips.

 "I got a free coupon," he said, as stylist Ruby Ramirez trimmed his locks.

Godsey said he likes that he can keep up with Chicago teams while keeping up his looks.

"I like to watch the Bears and get frustrated, I like to watch the Cubs and get frustrated," he joked.

Sport Clips, at 195 S. Rand Road, is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to  6 p.m. Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. For more information, call 847-847-1250 and visit www.sportclips.com.