An Overland Park barber’s family was impressed with the homes and brick streets of Fort Scott when they would shop here.
“We have a property in Mound City and drive to Fort Scott to shop,” Jose Montanez said. “We fell in love with the old Victorian homes and streets like cobblestones.”
The family was from Puerto Rico and lived in Boston for some time, he said.
“This kind of felt like home,” Jose said.
“We are excited,” he said. “We started our business 20 years ago, and are excited to start again in Fort Scott.”
“We are hoping, God willing, to provide modern cuts with ‘old school’ vibes,” Jose said. “Old school razor cuts, hot lather shaves.”
He currently owns a barber business in Overland Park, while living in Shawnee.
“There is a barbershop on about every corner, here,” Jose said.
Currently, Fort Scott has no downtown barbershops.
When the family purchased the building for the new shop at 118 E. Wall, in December 2020, they also purchased a home in Fort Scott.
“We are hoping to be here full-time in the spring,” Jose said.
“We are going to make Fort Scott our home,” he said.
He, his wife, Mayra, and their daughter, Jay, and son, Giancarlo, will all be moving to Fort Scott.
Jay and Giancarlo are also barbers.
“There will be a three-chair barbershop in Fort Scott,” Jose said.
“We are tying up loose ends in Overland Park,” he said. “We will be coming to Fort Scott every weekend, also prepping our house to sell (in Shawnee).”
