No swan song here

No swan song here
Wheeling barber finds he's ready to close his doors after 45 years but he'll keep a hand in the barbershop quartet business
Originally published Sunday, Jan. 20, 2008

By Nadia Malik
Daily Herald Staff Writer

While trimming away his customers' hair, Craig Huotari maintains a friendly flow of banter.
"Mike here is one of my fun customers," he says of Wheeling resident Mike Segermark. "He's one of the ones I look forward to seeing."
Huotari creates a flat-top haircut for Segermark in his Wheeling barbershop, which has been at 251 E. Dundee Road for 45 years.
"Have I told you why this razor's so sharp?" he asks Segermark. "Because we're on the edge of town. A little barber humor there."
A news station -- one that he never turns off -- plays in the background as Huotari uses a straight-edged razor to cut the hair around Segermark's ears and neck. The technique isn't usually found at more modern hair salons, which is one of the attractions for Huotari's customers.
Segermark comes to Huotari because he knows just how to create the flat-top hair style of his choice. It's an art to get it not too long but also not too short.
"This kind of haircut is like sculpting," Huotari says.
You can tell that Huotari has been doing his job for a while, and you can tell he's good at it.
His customers have been coming to him for the years he's been in Wheeling because they know he's one of the few old-fashioned barbers still around. He even sings in a barbershop quartet, adding to his credibility.
But at the end of the month, they will have to find a new way to bring the good old days into their lives.
The 74-year-old, who lives in Wisconsin, will be retiring and spending more time with his three kids and on his boat, which is depicted in snapshots all around his shop. The building where his shop resides is being renovated, and an increase in the lease signaled it was time to retire.
He opened the shop in April 1962 after four years in the Air Force. Huotari and his friend had been playing baseball and trying to figure out what to do.
"Barber college paid $280 a month with the GI Bill," he said.
After some time at the Chicago college, Huotari realized he liked being a barber. He initially owned a shop in Des Plaines and then sold it to open one in Wheeling.
"When I was in the Air Force, I knew I had to be my own boss," he said. "When I first saw this place, it was dirt."
He opened up and waited for customers to come. Eventually, he built a solid base, employing a couple of other barbers. Now, he works alone, serving an average of 17 customers a day during his 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. work hours.
Those who walk in off the street will have a hard time getting an appointment, as most of Huotari's business is long-booked by his regulars.
Ken Brady, a trustee on the Wheeling village board, is one of those patrons who can't remember how long he's been coming to see Huotari.
"It's been about 35 or 38 years," he said. "He's turned into such a good friend, you'd almost look forward to having your monthly haircuts."
Brady said he's even gone to Galena to stay at the bed-and-breakfast Huotari owned with his wife before she passed away two years ago.
"I don't think you get that type of relationship with these larger shops," Brady said. "This sort of place is getting few and far between."
Brady's is the first appointment on Jan. 26, the last day Huotari will keep Craig's Barber Shop open.
"They're all friends now," Huotari says of the 1,200 names he has in his card file.
He's had his fair share of sports celebrities come in -- Mike Ditka even made a stop once -- but Huotari said it's the regular customers who he enjoys talking to.
"You get to know who your customers are," he said.
George Passolt, one of Huatori's first customers and the village manager in Wheeling in the 1970s, still comes by to talk to Huatori about what's going on in town.
On a recent Friday, Passolt was in the barber chair. As Mount Prospect resident Bill Richter waited, the three exchanged quips and had conversations about everything from the CTA to the time when the village refused to let Huotari's barbershop pole rotate because it violated a village code.
"It's a good atmosphere," Richter said.
Huotari said he's not ready to give up the business completely. He's gotten offers to work part-time at other shops but he's still thinking it over.
He'll also stay with Seriously, the barbershop quartet he sings with. The group sang with the group Monday night at Wheeling's village board meeting when the town honored his time in the village.
"I think it's time," Huotari said of retirement. "I've got a sailboat waiting for me."