Fernando Alvarez, owner of Elite Cutz was born and raised in Canadian, where he got his start in high school.
“I started cutting hair in high school, just as a side thing,” Alvarez said. “But after graduating I moved to Pampa and worked in some different jobs and just realized that there wasn’t an actual barbershop here anymore.”
Alvarez began cutting hair again when Covid started and realized that’s what he wanted to do. Enrolling in barber school to start taking it more serious, and allowing him to build a clientele. Alvarez had built up clientele and word spread that he was beginning to cut hair more than before.
“After graduating in October of last year, I went to work at Salon 118,” Alvarez said. “That’s when I decided this was what I wanted to do full time and I wanted to bring something totally new to Pampa.”
Alvarez took on the task of finding a place to start the shop and get it ready. After months of looking, Alvarez found the perfect spot. Elite Cutz is now what used to be Mrs. Baird’s at 2301 N Hobart St.
“The owners of the building really helped us get this going,” Alvarez said. “Back in February they let me know I was good to go and could start getting my shop put together.”
After the green light was given, Alvarez and his team began purchasing and setting up all the items they’d need to open the doors on their barbershop. With hair salons all over Pampa, Alvarez felt we needed something for the men of Pampa, in an old school way.”
“There isn’t really a legit barbershop,” Alvarez said. “When I moved here I’d ask around who cut hair for guys and there were a few names, but no one had an official barbershop. Most people went to Amarillo for a barber, and I thought we have those things here, someone just needed to open the doors.”
As a barbershop, the shop of four offers services from the average haircut to a full scale treatment while in the shop. Elite Cutz has Fernando Alvarez, Josue Rincon, Jesse Hernandez and Marc Wells.
“We keep up with all the new hair cuts that come out, with today’s time there’s a whole new level to the art,” Alvarez said. “We keep up with all the tools and trends that people come in and want. We can do any kind of haircut, any kind of style. We door beard work, hot towel shaves and a steam treatment. You get pampered up with our full service package.”
Alvarez and Wells take appointments only because of how booked up they get, the other two barbers are walk ins and working on building up clientele.
“We want everyone to get the best service, I can take walk ins to but I just don’t want to be overbooked because I want every cut I give to be the best,” Alvarez said. “Marc is super busy right now after opening a barber supply shop in Amarillo, but he still cuts. Josue and Jesse are working on building up clientele and have some already and we’ve just opened. So we want anyone who comes in to get the best. We pamper you while you’re here, but we also thought it would be a cool feature to offer drinks while you wait or while you’re in the chair to make it a better experience.”
The shop officially opened it’s doors Monday, March 6th but they still have plans to get more into the shop. Alvarez has hopes of getting at least six barbers into the shop to be able to get more people in the doors, and also bring more amenities to the store.
“Right now we have a foosball table, I plan to get a pool table in here too,” Alvarez said. “We have the TV’s going and music in the background to build up the vibe and comfort level we want people to feel in here. Of course when there’s kids in the shop, we watch what we have playing and what people are saying because we want everyone to feel comfortable here. It’s a barbershop but we want people to feel like they can hang out, creating that barbershop feeling.”
The shop has set hours, but Alvarez and his team are willing to work late or work early to accommodate those appointments they get in.
“If someone has an emergency or something they have the next day and they need a cut soon, that’s what we can do,” Alvarez said. “Two of us work on appointment only but we also can make it work for our customers.”
The shop has a Facebook and an Instagram page, both under the name Elite Cutz Barbershop. The website elitecutzbarbershop.com showcase all the barbers on staff and the work they’ve done so far, from the website each barber has it set up to allow customers to go onto the site and pick the best barber for them and click on their image and then click the booking link to schedule an appointment.
“We want people to come in and know what they want and who they want doing it,” Alvarez said. “So the website allows you to pick and choose who you want to be your barber. So it’s a cool feature to be able to offer.”
To learn more and to see what all they have to offer, visit elitecutzbarbershop.com. To contact the shop call them at 806-486-2839
