ABC7 Unite: Landmark Teaneck barbershop honored with street renaming

Thursday, October 22, 2020
NEW YORK (WABC) -- A landmark barbershop in New Jersey was honored Thursday for their only rule: Customers are asked to leave their prejudice at the door.

Bespoke Men's Spa is the oldest Black-owned business in Teaneck and it's been heralded for its diverse customer base where everyone gets along.

At the Bespoke barbershop, serving a diverse community is bedrock.

"One major rule: We don't talk about politics, race, religion or sexuality - that's what has been keeping us together here, everyone comes in here as one," owner Dre Perrin said.

That includes everybody.



"The Filipinos, Asians, White, everybody has just been showing a lot of love," barber Omar Hastings said.

ALSO READ | ABC7 Unite: New app connects diverse college students with employers

They have a large Jewish clientele as well.

"I have to be careful because I'm one of the few left in my family that has hair left," Deputy Mayor of Teaneck Elie Katz said.

Bespoke is the result of 30 years in the business for owner Perrin who became interested in barbering as a teen when he watched his best friend cutting hair at home.



The barbers are as diverse as the clients. They all say the boss has given more than he has ever taken and has created a welcoming environment and steady jobs.

"With all the division going on in the world, seeing something like this put together is awesome," customer Mike Perrin said.

The planning board in Teaneck saw an opportunity to honor Perrin, and so on Thursday, Walraven Drive was renamed Bespoke-Dre Perrin Way

RELATED | Long Island Baptist church honors 10 Black lives lost with symbolic gravestones
Long Island Baptist church honors 10 Black lives lost with symbolic gravestones


MORE ABC 7 UNITE



See more stories at abc7NY.com/unite
[Ads /]
SEND STORY IDEAS TO EYEWITNESS NEWS


Watch Here & Now
Here & Now episode archive

RESOURCES


We are also publishing resources in a range of areas, which will grow and can be found below:

Ways to Help
Black Lives Matter
Black Voters Matter Fund
NAACP
National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY)
Black LGBTQIA + Migrants Project

Teaching the Next Generation
Black Lives Matter at School
Creating Space To Talk About Racism At Your School
[Ads /]
Teaching for Black Lives - Rethinking Schools

Black-Owned Bookstores in New York and New Jersey
Cafe con Libros (Brooklyn)
Grandma's Place (Harlem)
Sister's Uptown (Manhattan)
Source of Knowledge (Newark)
The Lit. Bar (Bronx)
The Little Boho Bookshop (Bayonne)

Books
Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou
Raising White Kids: Bringing Up Children In A Racially Unjust America by Jennifer Harvey
So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander
White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

Podcasts
[Ads /]
1619
Black Wall Street 1921
Jemele Hill is Unbothered
Still Processing:
Movies
American Son: Available on Netflix
If Beale Street Could Talk: Available on Hulu
Just Mercy: Available on Amazon Prime
Selma: Available on Amazon Prime
The Hate U Give: Available on Amazon Prime
When They See Us: Available on Netflix

Documentaries
13th: Available on Netflix
America Inside Out with Katie Couric: Available on National Geographic
Becoming: Available on Netflix
I am Not Your Negro: Available on YouTube
Copyright © 2024 WABC-TV. All Rights Reserved.