BY CAYDEN SANDERS
Fade Factory is a new barbershop in Hays. Having just opened on August 7, Fade Factory is located off the beaten path – in an alley between the Hays Community Theater and the Elite roofing building at 129 east 8th street.
Fade Factory owner Leo Vasquez Jr. has been a barber in Hays for five years, with prior work at Park Ave. Barber Shop. While at Park Ave, he grew his clientele and felt it was time to build his own business.
It is not just Vasquez Jr. at the Fade Factory; he brought his friends who have put in the work and had a reputation around Hays for their outstanding work. Josh Heredia and Manny Peralta join Vaquez to start this new business alongside Kelsi Nuss, who does women’s haircuts and women’s hair care.
“We [Vasquez, Heredia, Peralta, Muss] decided that it was time for us to branch out and have our own place, and it has been nice to see the support from our clients in this transition,” Vasquez Jr said.
With the Fade Factory being new to the scene in Hays, the team opened up the shop with an event on August 7th and 8th for kids returning to school. The Factory gave away school supplies and free haircuts to kids ages 3 – 14. Along with giving free haircuts, the Factory supplied school supplies with bookbags, pencils, and notebooks for the more than 50 kids who attended the event.
Along with the back-to-school event, the Factory also had Tacos el Guero Guey serving food.
The Fade Factory looks forward to new clients coming into the business as students return to school. Vasquez looks forward to a partnership with Fort Hays going forward.
“We know that athletic season is coming for Fort Hays, and so we are looking to be the shop for the guys to come in and be the place where they get their haircut,” Vasquez Jr. said. “We also love seeing college students in the shop. We know some students are back on campus, but we can’t wait when school starts and we get to see that part of our clientele back.”
With the business being new to the scene, Vasquez said the best way to book with Fade Factory is to walk in and schedule or book through the websites in their social media biographies.
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