When you walk into Fade County Barber shop in Southwest Miami Dade, you can instantly tell that the name is a play off Heat Superstar Dwyane Wade’s Wade County (itself a play on Dade County). The shop is decorated in the Miami Heat’s Red and Black and the walls are covered in team memorabilia. It would be easy to think that these are just gimmicks to distract you while you are getting a cut-rate cut, but after sitting in one of their chairs I can tell you that the decorations are just extras and the cuts are anything but cut-rate.
There are several people a man should have in his life besides his family and friends. One would have to be a good bartender and the other is a good barber. During the NCAA Basketball Tournament, fans who follow this site on Twitter were exposed to a mutation of the popular #struggleface, the #strugglehair. Bad hair was all over the place, and you would hope somebody told these kids that they can’t have One Shining Moment if your lines aren’t straight.
That is why Fade County isn’t afraid to call itself the best barber shop in Miami. When you sit down in that chair, you immediately are confident that the person working on your cut knows his way around a head of hair and has dedicated their time to master their craft.
After I moved to a new area, I found a new barber shop that, coincidentally, was also sports themed. The difference was that it did feel gimmicky, like somebody had thought that having some football helmets at the barber’s stations would be enough to get people to stay. It was no surprise that the place closed down and in a pinch, I was forced to go to one of those chain stores where a middle aged lady talked my ear off as she “styled” my hair.
It was after that that I found Fade County Barber Shop. I would drive by the location on my way to work and decided to give it a shot. Located in Southwest Miami Dade, it is in their own words that they admit they are out in the boondocks. But like I said, a good barber is worth his weight in gold, so what is a little bit of a drive for a truly good haircut?
When you walk in the shop, it is no mystery what team this shop is all about, all Heat all the way.
When I sat in the chair with my barber Alex, he asked me what I wanted and immediately got to work. In my opinion there are few things more relaxing and peaceful than getting a haircut. With a job and two kids, the barber’s chair is one of the few oases that a man can just sit and not worry about what is going on the world. That is why it was especially nice that Alex took his time and really dedicated his time to giving me a great haircut. Sometimes you get the feeling that barber’s just want to move on to the next one and get their money, but it was clear that I was the only client Alex cared about in that time.
In the next chair over, the shops manager, Jorge Fleitas Jr. was cutting another guys hair. We started talking and the conversation went from the shop to sports to politics to world history. Immediately on my first visit I felt like I had been a customer for years.
In talking with Jorge I learned a couple of interesting things about their shop. One of their goals is to have Dwyane Wade himself come into the shop to get his hair cut. While I am pretty sure any barber shop in Miami would like Wade to give them publicity, not many shops can count on Wade’s dad as a customer. The shop is also a supporter of Wade Sr.’s ProPops Foundation, which aims to teach young men to be better fathers and offer underprivileged families assistance.
And the concept of family is very important to the shop, as it was Jorge’s father, Jorge Sr. who opened the shop and his son runs the day to day operation.
Here are Jorge’s own words on the importance of family.
“Why do people take the drive to the boondocks/diamond in the rough/wild west? My answer is because we do good work, but treat people great with love and respect. Yes we have good times and mess around but we see and treat everyone who walks thru those doors like family. This is hard to find nowadays in any business.
Our goal out here is to send a domino effect to anyone who sees us packed working every day that recession starts in the mind, but so does success. Your in control of your thoughts. We are proud to have opened on June 16 2010 when all the media said Wade was going to Chi town to be with his kids, when everyone said the economy was at its worst since the great depression and when no one believed there could be clientele this far west.
My father, brother, wife and myself put in all our chips and bet on red and black. People say family can’t work together, but I believe without family there is nothing worth living for. No matter what the future holds I know my family and I played a small role for the better in the economy. Fade County employs eight barbers, and some say it’s just eight, but I tend to think they impact many more than eight.
If you need a sense of what the family setting is like at the shop, here is a picture of one of the barber’s, who happens to be a fan of the bitter rival Knicks, making good on a wager he lost.
They were also featured last year during the NBA Finals on the local ABC Affiliate.
Now their passion for sports is not limited to the Heat. One of the barber’s featured in the piece, Steve Rivera, also goes by the name of @CanesBarber and is the official barber of the Miami Hurricanes. When Jacory Harris and other guys had “swag” designed into their hair, it was at his hands. Even though he is not working at the shop full time due to his travel schedule, he still considers the shop family.
Whatever type of hair you have or whatever type of cut you want, Fade County can take care of all your needs. When you are in Miami, make sure you drive on out and get the cut your hair deserves.
They are located at
14763 sw 184th st
Miami, FL 33187
Visit their website at http://fadecounty.com/
Follow them on Twitter @FadeCountyShop. They are always sending out tweets with promotions, including a Tuesday special for followers where you can get a cut and shave for only $11.
Also, be sure to mention you read about them here.