We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chasity Martinez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chasity, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. One of the most important things we can do as business owners is ensure that our customers feel appreciated. What’s something you’ve done or seen a business owner do to help a customer feel valued?

We are a walk in shop, we try to keep it convenient and straightforward . We offer a local beer or coffee while folks wait. We have hosted vintage pop ups with other local vendors. We encourage folks to sign up and sell their local handmade goods. We have tried to stay in the new and loop of Durango. We are always changing and trying to stay on the up and up for all of the folks that support us. It has been such a fun venture so far.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Chas and Lauryn both took cosmetology hours in high school. It was kind of an easy way to get into the field and support us right out of high school. It has paved the way to a great way of life. Being able to have a great work life balance and provide that for others, is important to us. We are a female owned unisex barbershop in Durango, Co. Bucks is a new small business, we opened our doors March of 2021. Found a location and became an LLC in October of 2020. We’ve been working on this business since 2019, owning our own shop has been a dream for much longer. Durango is a town that caters mostly to tourists. We strive to be the neighborhood barbershop, an up beat, affordable place for locals, families, and college students to get a killer haircut. We are a great place for not only transient clients, but also stylist. We love having traveling stylist come in and work. A great way to make money if ya wanna come visit Durango. Our shop isn’t priced by gender, but based on the length of your current style. Obviously tourists are welcome, but part of the problem we are solving is offering a place to get a haircut day-of. You know, the days you wake up and just need a haircut… we are here on those days. Most shops in town are appointments only. We don’t take appointments, just walk-ins or call aheads. This business model is unique, but we are qualified for this style of shop to work! We have helped similar shops grow to multiple locations and employee dozens. Another problem we are solving is year round employment. Being in a tourist town most work is seasonal. We offer flexible schedules, a living wage, and room for growth year round. Developing a great work environment is another way we will be successful. While managing other shops, we’ve found being profitable is about keeping clients coming back, but it’s not just by giving great haircuts and a free local beer. We’ve found what keeps clients coming back is sitting in a stylist’s chair who loves their job and making the shop a fun environment. We will offer local perks to guests and staff. We’re working with local businesses to offer employee discounts for service industry folks, monthly health|wellness stipend, and free continuing education. We have space to showcase local artists and host block parties with local bands and vendors. We are actively working on partnering with neighboring businesses, the City of Durango and local farmers to turn our back lot into a community garden. We are working with the Women’s Center to host clothing drives and haircuts for individuals looking for employment. We are excited to say the least about being a new local business, but we need some help to keep this dream alive during these trying times. We are most proud of opening during a pandemic and really doing something with this dream we’ve had for so long.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

walk in, tell your friends and foes, word of mouth, people love to hear your personal experience and they love that other folks love it here

Being one of the only walk in shops in town, has made us known. Folks love the convenience of waking up and popping in. We offer local coffee from 81301 coffee and local beer from SkaBrewing. Tell your friends, tell your foes, is what we always tell everyone! Folks in Durango love hearing from other local folks about how rad Bucks is.. Word of mouth has been our biggest tool for marketing. You always trust when Sue next door tells ya how much she loves a place. We want everyone to feel welcome, like you’re hanging on your front porch! We are a place for all y’all

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

The hardest part of opening a small business; hiring. Not to mention we opened during Covid, but also folks in Durango are a different breed. haha! We love and appreciate everyone who has supported us, BUT the Durango vibe is to hustle hard for your next adventure, go off have fun, come back and repeat! haha While yes we love that for you, it has made it so hard to keep folks employed . We are so grateful for the gals we have in the shop , but are always looking for more help. It is extremely hard being two women opening a small shop in such a busy fast paced world, but here we are ! Dream work makes the dream work!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bucksdurango.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/bucksdurango
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/bucksdurang

Image Credits
Branding created by @madebyhowdy via IG Julia Ion ! She rocks!