EASTHAMPTON — What started out as a men’s gifts and grooming shop in Northampton has become a bustling barbershop in Easthampton that prides itself on its inclusive practices and atmosphere.

From its first days adding barber chairs to its much smaller former Northampton location, Hero Barber has accumulated a substantial base of loyal customers who have followed the business to Easthampton not just because they like how they look and feel when they leave, but because they like how they feel from the moment they walk inside.

“You can come in here and be whoever you are, and that is not something that’s common in the barbering community,” said Christopher Wolf, who owns and runs the business with his partner, Norm White.

Hero strives constantly to foster a welcoming, gender-neutral environment, where anyone can get the short trim or shave they’re looking for. And if the pins on each barber stating “you are safe with me” aren’t enough to make someone feel at home, the shop dog, Lucy will be sure to greet whoever shows up.

White explained that still today, there are barbershops where “if you’re female and you go in to get a fade haircut, they won’t cut your hair,” but he wanted to create something different at Hero. He and Wolf sought to carve out a space where everyone who walks through the door can be comfortable.

While the shop had only the tools to do short cuts, White explained, the gender of who is getting that cut doesn’t matter at all.

Since moving to its new 186 Northampton St. location around early December, Hero has been able to expand its operations — going from a 700- square-foot space to a roughly 1,700-square-foot space with ample parking — but the shop’s online wait list is still routinely booked up with returning customers, and Wolf said the shop still has to turn people away sometimes.

Boon Sheridan has been a regular customer at Hero since about 2017, shortly after the shop’s former Northampton location was remodeled to include a barbershop portion. But Sheridan said the new space is “fantastic,” and he’s been happy to follow the shop to its new location for the quality cuts they offer.

“Norm is one of the few people I know who can do a beard really well,” said Sheridan.

To accommodate more customers like Sheridan, the shop is actively expanding its team, with a fourth barber coming on soon and plans to hire a fifth. Still, the team at Hero is close-knit, with Wolf handling most of the managerial and customer service aspects of the business, and White working as a barber himself — a passion he discovered out of necessity.

When the pair opened the barbershop portion of their Northampton store, Wolf said there were some issues between the barbers and he and White as managers, which he said boiled down to one simple fact: “It was not barbers telling barbers what to do.”

So the pair decided they either needed to venture out of the barbering business, or one of them needed to go to school to become a barber. But Wolf said he believes in investing in oneself, and this seemed like a chance to do just that. Because White already had some expertise in the beauty industry, he was the obvious choice, and quickly found himself learning to become a barber.

“Once he got behind the chair, everything changed,” said Wolf.

While in barber school, White also met and got to know the three other barbers who currently work at Hero.

“I kind of recognized the talent,” he said.

Now, with more space and more talent on the way, Hero hopes to accommodate even more customer traffic, and help more people in the community feel welcome, safe and confident. Wolf explained that he and White have a major “passion about the quality of the work and the customer experience,” and that moving to Easthampton has only allowed them to realize those passions to a greater extent thus far.

Alexa Lewis can be reached at alewis@gazettenet.com.