After 51 years in business, Tucson’s Barber and Styling at 1042 Main Ave. is closing on Aug. 18, allowing longtime owner and operator Amador Tucson, 85, to finally lay down his clippers and enter a well-earned retirement.
Amador has enjoyed a colorful and successful tenure as a barber in Durango, with son Isadore “Izzy” Tucson by his side in the shop for 46 of the shop’s 51 years in operation.
Tucson’s has seen a steady stream of community members, a few celebrities, and its fair share of gossip in the five-plus decades it has called Main Avenue home. For many Durango residents, Tucson’s, nestled near Carver Brewing Co., has become a staple of comfort and familiarity in the downtown tableau.
“They call me ‘The Mayor of Main Street,’” Amador said. “That’s because they say, ‘you’re the master of knowing everything – this place is like an information center.’”
Amador says his Tucson’s customers have asked him about just about everything while getting their hair cut, from relationship advice to where to find the best Italian food in town.
“I don’t know how many marriages I saved by working here,” he said. “I mean, really.”
Amador remembers one of the men he gave advice to coming back to the shop several months later to express gratitude for his guidance.
“He thanked me for teaching him right from wrong,” he said. “That almost makes me cry to talk about.”
Amador is not only well known throughout the community for his haircutting services – sometimes serving celebrities like John Wayne, Michael J. Fox and Aretha Franklin – and his ownership of the only remaining spinning barber pole in Durango; he’s also made a name for himself through his prolific musical endeavors in town with his band, Tucson y Las Amigos, and through his long-term, deep ties to Durango and its people. According to Izzy, his father was one of the first Southern Ute members to open a business on Main.
Amador first began cutting his friends’ and family’s hair for fun on Sundays while working in construction, and found he had a talent for it. From there, he made his way to Denver to attend barber school, and eventually opened Tucson’s in Durango in November 1974.
During Amador’s practical exam at the end of his seven-month tenure at barber school, his teacher told him he was “one hell of a barber” and said he had made his hair cutting subject look like Rock Hudson. He scored a 97 on the exam and never looked back.
The building Tucson’s is located in has been operating as a barbershop for over 100 years. Amador bought the shop, then called the Silver Dollar Barbershop, from previous owner, John Walden, in 1974 and initially renamed it La Barberia. The shop was renamed again to Tucson’s Barber and Styling in 1980.
Amador said he and Izzy have had a good time working together at Tucson’s over the past 40-plus years.
“We get along,” Amador said. “We’ve had no worries, because everything I say is right.”
Izzy said he’s only been fired by his dad once.
Izzy worked a few other jobs during the 46 years he’s been in business with his father – including security guard work and a short-lived dip into the world of onstage haircutting shows for Sally Beauty – but, much like his father, he always seemed to find his way back to cutting hair at Tucson’s.
“We all have a purpose,” said Izzy, “and God put me on this Earth to groom his sheep.”
Amador said he holds his experiences at Tucson’s, and his conversations with his customers, close, and will miss his daily interactions with patrons.
“I really enjoyed my customers, because they were so nice,” he said. “They treated me real good, and I treated them good, too.”
Many customers are feeling blue about Tucson’s closing, the father and son duo said.
“They say, ‘oh my god. What are we gonna do?’” Amador said. “I tell them, ‘don’t worry – I’ll tell you where to go, and I’ll tell you what to tell them when you’re gonna get your hair cut.”
Longtime customer John Hill, who has been getting his hair cut by Amador for several decades, called Tucson’s “the best haircut in town,” and Tucson himself a “town icon.”
Though Hill said he’ll miss the convenience and familiarity of Tucson’s, he’s also happy for Amador and his well-deserved retirement.
“All good things must come to an end,” Hill said. “None of us is getting any younger, that’s for sure. I’m happy for (Amador).”
Izzy said learning his father was closing the shop for good was an emotional experience.
“When I walked in here and saw all the mirrors and things taken down, and my dad said, ‘someone offered some money for the shop, and I sold it,’ I was devastated,” he said. “I was crying.”
After some reflection, Izzy understood his dad’s decision, in part from seeing the peace his father has been experiencing since beginning to enter a long-awaited retirement.
“(My parents) were business partners for a long time,” Izzy said. “Now, after 64 years of marriage, they’re like boyfriend and girlfriend again. My mom’s been retired for 15 years. She’s been waiting for him.”
Despite the melancholy that initially came with Tucson’s closing down, Izzy and Amador are both making their peace with moving on.
“The dream is turning the page now,” Izzy said. “The tears I cry are antifreeze for my heart – and real men cry.”
“As I think more about it, I feel I’m going to be barbersick – that I’m going to miss it,” Amador said. “I got so used to being here at seven o’clock. But I’m happy that I’m going to retire. My wife is going to be happy. (Izzy) is going to be happy, too.”
Though Tucson’s will be leaving Main Avenue on Aug. 18, its legacy, built up over five decades, will continue to live on in the hearts and minds of its loyal patrons and appreciative visitors.
And for anyone worrying about the fate of Durango’s only spinning barber pole, take heart: Amador plans to display it proudly in his home to remind him of the value he has brought to Durango, as both a master barber and a longtime community member.
epond@durangoherald.com
