Graffiti Beauty and Barber offers artsy escape from eastern Idaho
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REXBURG — Graffiti Beauty and Barber is not your typical salon, and owners Brandee and Troy Gordo like it that way. Surrounded by graffiti-covered walls, the only thing traditional about this place is the barber pole hanging by the front desk.
“We are a multicultural place. One of the things I always wanted when I was growing up was diversity,” Troy said. “I feel like this place invites everybody to come in. There are times when we will have people from Rexburg and people from London, and because of the school (Brigham Young University-Idaho), we will have African-Americans and Brazilians all at the same time. It’s just awesome to see everyone in here together. Sometimes we will have four or five different languages being spoken in here.”
Brandee worked in a salon most of her life. She started when she was 14 as an assistant in a salon in Montana. She dreamed of owning her own business by the time she was 21, and that’s exactly what she did.
She wanted her salon to be something people would remember when they came in, even if they didn’t have any services done.
“I wanted something unique. I wanted people in Rexburg to to feel like they weren’t in Rexburg when they came in.”
When she came up with the concept of Graffiti, her husband hated it. He didn’t think the people in Rexburg would like it, and it would make them feel uncomfortable, but Brandee knew that she was on to something.
“People want to feel like they are in a city, they want an escape from the little bubble of Rexburg,” Brandee said she told Troy.
Brandee was right, and about a year and a half later, while working as a drug prevention facilitator, Troy decided to go to barber school and joined the business. They have now grown to four stylists and three barbers.
Brandee said education is important if she wants to keep her clientele.
“We just went to Las Vegas for an international hair show,” she said. “There is a guy that has really branded himself, he is actually Usher and P Diddy’s personal barber and goes on tour with them. We have gone to a few of his trainings in Chicago and Los Angeles. It’s really cool because we have gotten to meet a lot of celebrity barbers and been up close and personal with them. I am going to New York next month to the Redken Institute.”
Brandee said she needs to keep up with trends for her business to be successful.
“I feel that a lot of my reputation is staying current, not just mine but the salon’s reputation,” she said. “I feel like I dropped the ball if someone’s not happy with their hair even if I didn’t do it. If some my girls do something and their client isn’t happy, I feel like I dropped the ball because I didn’t teach them what they needed to know to do it. Education is huge.”
Kaelee Fuller waits until she comes home from college for Brandee to cut and color her hair because she knows that Brandee stays current on what is going on in hair.
“A lot of times I don’t even have an idea of what I want — I just come in and Brandee knows my hair, and I end up loving it,” Fuller said.
Barber Luis “Weech” Vasquez says he comes up with original styles for his clients.
“Clients will show us a picture and we cater to what they like. We personalize it for their hair type,” Vasquez said.
Leticia Herrera began bringing her sons to Graffiti shortly after it opened. She has had all three of the barbers cut their hair and she feels like they are the best barbers in town.
“My kids won’t go anywhere else. You won’t walk out disappointed,” Herrera said.
Graffiti is located at 402 W 4th S in Rexburg inside the Magic Suds building. You can follow it on Facebook or call (208) 356-0044 to schedule an appointment.