Over a century since it first opened, a barber shop on South Union Street in downtown Kennett Square is still going strong, writes Jim Graham for The Hunt.
The shop was started at the end of the 19th century by Fred Guy, who sold it to Frank Simeone at the start of the Great Depression. 30 years later, the shop changed owners once again. Frank Fragale and Jim Landreth ran the shop together until 1977, when Fragale passed away.
Landreth kept the shop going and started mentoring his late partner’s two sons, Mike and Barry. The brothers took the shop over in 2001 and renamed it Fragale Brothers Barber Shop.
The shop has managed to survive two world wars and the pandemic, and the brothers plan to keep it running for a long time to come.
“For my brother and me, I think the shop is a link to our father,” said Mike. “I can remember looking out the window as a little kid and sweeping up for my dad on Saturdays when I was 8 or 9. That’s the reason why I keep the shop the way it is.”
Read more about Fragale Brothers Barber Shop’s history in Kennett Square in The Hunt.
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