For more than three decades, the little white door sandwiched between 128 and 129 Nassau Street has guarded Princeton males' best kept secret — the men behind the clean cut. Sadly, the community must soon bid farewell to these two masters of the edge clippers.
After working out of the Rialto Barber Shop for 31 years, owners Ed Cifelli and Rich Pinelli will retire their fine-tooth black combs and scissors after University graduation this year. They are currently in the process of selling the shop to Cifelli's neighbor, a fellow barber.
"After 46 years in the business it was just time to go," Cifelli said.
"It will still be a barber shop though," Pinelli chimed in hastily. "The name is going to stay the same and the woman who will take over is a regular barber, not a hair dresser. Everything will stay the same."
"Only she's a lot better looking than the two of us," both men said in unison, breaking into hearty laughter.
The duo was determined to make sure their business would remain a barber shop after their retirement. During their time in business, Cifelli and Pinelli have seen the number of barber shops in the area dwindle from 10 to two.
In the 1970s when longer men's hair styles became popular, many barber shops were replaced by hair salons and stylists. The barber shops never came back. Neither Cifelli nor Pinelli wanted the business to be added to the growing list of shops-turned-salons.
"The town has gotten so much busier. It used to be more personal, now there are a lot more chain stores," said Pinelli, who grew up in the area. "When you are raised in this town, and you can see the changes, you don't like them when you get older."
Finding a barber to replace the duo was not easy. Since New Jersey passed a law requiring all hair dressers to obtain cosmetology certificates, barbers have become a dying breed.
"Hairdressers," said Pinelli, shrugging his shoulders with disdain. "That's all there is anymore. You can't become a barber, you have to become a cosmetologist."
Barbers v. New Jersey
New Jersey legislators initially tried to force established barbers to go to cosmetology school as well. Cifelli and Pinelli joined together with other barbers to stop the legislation.
"We were angry," said Pinelli, visibly annoyed at the memory. "They changed the law without even consulting us barbers. So we all signed a petition."
"People should have a choice of what they want to be," Cifelli added.
Both Pinelli and Cifelli chose to be barbers at a young age. Pinelli became a barber at age 18 when he was in the U.S. Navy.
Cifelli started working for a barber at an even earlier age. When he was 14 and still living in Italy, Cifelli's father — who had moved to the United States two years earlier — recommended that he learn the trade. At the time, finding work was difficult and Cifelli's father wanted to ensure that his son would be able to get a job.
"I swept a lot of floors," said Cifelli. "That is how you learned in the old days back in Italy. You watched and swept floors."
His father's advice worked. Two days after Cifelli joined his father in the United States, he was hired by a barber shop. After a few years, Cifelli accepted a job at the Princeton Barber Shop. Pinelli began working there four years later. The two men had a lot in common and became close friends.
"His wife and my wife grew up together in Princeton," Pinelli said. "They were neighbors."
After three years of working together, Cifelli and Pinelli decided to open their own shop. Initially, they tried to buy the Princeton Barber Shop, but the owner did not want to sell. Eventually they bought 128 1/2 Nassau Street. They have been cutting hair side by side ever since.
'Strong bond'
Over the years, Cifelli and Pinelli have built a strong bond with the community and the University. Framed black and white pictures of Princeton athletic teams line the walls. A portrait of Bill Bradley '65 hangs in the back of the shop.
"That newspaper article," said Cifelli gesturing to a frame on the back wall. "Bill Bradley gave that to me two weeks before he became a senator. He chose this place to give a speech."
Many other community members have a similar attachment to the shop. Some former residents drive all the way from Pennsylvania to get their hair cut at Rialto.
"We are definitely going to miss a lot of people," Cifelli said. "But there are things that need to be done. My wife has a list, I'm sure."
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