Barbershop of Napa Valley by Napa Valley Register
Thanks to Kevin Courtney and Nick Otto for this wonderful article about one of our long-time favorite merchants at the plaza.
Read the full article here.
Arleen Gonzalez Soto is the new owner of a landmark barber shop at Bel Aire Plaza.
Barber Shop of Napa Valley opened at Bel Aire nearly 60 years ago. Among 23 tenants operating in 1994, only Villa Corona and Barber Shop of Napa Valley, the tenant with the center’s smallest footprint, are still operating.
Montgomery Ward got replaced by Target, Ralphs made room for Whole Foods, while Trader Joe’s and Peet’s contributed their own cachet. Amid all the turnover, Barber Shop of Napa Valley quietly went about its haircutting business.
Gonzalez Soto, the shop’s first female owner, has barbered there for the past four years. She bought the business in February 2023 from Rick Reiger who had owned it for a decade.
Owning this shop has been a dream of hers, said Gonzalez Soto, who came to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 6 months old. “It’s a piece of Napa history,” she said. “Some clients have been coming here since they were little boys coming with their dads.”
Gonzalez Soto has wanted to be a hair professional since she was a teenager. She got her cosmetology license before graduating from Napa High in 2004, then went to work in a succession of Napa beauty salons. When it turned out that scissor work was her strongest skill, she went to barber school in Vallejo and began barbering.
Cutting men’s hair is comparatively simple, Gonzalez Soto said. Women have far more diverse coloring and style preferences, she said.
“Men want what they want,” she said. They often keep the same hairstyle for decades.
Gonzalez Soto said she scores points with her male clients by remembering their names and lending a sympathetic ear as necessary.
“I hear, ‘I didn’t need a haircut, I need a friendly face,’” she said.
Gonzalez Soto said she is proud of what she has achieved in life. “I am proud to say I’m an owner in Bel Aire Plaza,” she said.
She plans to spruce up the four-seat shop, while preserving the “family-friendly” atmosphere. Three veteran barbers are staying. “I love the crew I have,” she said.
Barber Shop of Napa Valley, located between Peet’s and Whole Foods, is open daily.
Adult haircuts are $33. Info: 3662 Bel Aire Plaza, Napa; 707-252-2887.
All photos are credited to Nick Otto at Napa Valley Register.
