Bryce Harper-led barbershop-speakeasy mashup, the Blind Barber, to open Philly location
The 4,000-square-foot drinking-and-grooming salon will span parts of two floors of the historic Hale Building.
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Following Thursday’s revelation that Bryce Harper will be joining the Philadelphia Phillies, here’s more news for the city that is decidedly on-brand for the coiffed and bearded athlete.
The Blind Barber, a barber shop-cocktail lounge hybrid that counts the new Phillies outfielder as a business partner and hair-product authority, said in a release after news of the Phillies deal broke that it plans to open its first location outside New York, Chicago and Los Angeles in Center City’s historic Hale Building.
The 4,000-square-foot drinking-and-grooming salon will span parts of two floors of the 1887 building at 1326 Chestnut St., with drink orders from the second-story speakeasy-inspired restaurant available to patrons getting cuts and shaves on the ground-floor barbershop.
The venue, which will be the Blind Barber’s seventh location, is scheduled to open in the fall. Its entrance will be on the Hale Building’s Sansom Street-facing side.
Another tenant is planned for the building’s retail space facing Chestnut Street. Shared-office operator Spaces is to occupy the eight-story Hale Building’s upper floors.
The Blind Barber was founded in Manhattan’s East Village in 2010 by a group that included its Philadelphia-born chief executive, Matt Breen.
Harper, who joined the company as a partner in 2018, helped developed its “Bryce Harper Signature Collection” of grooming products, which includes a styling clay and beard balm, Blind Barber said. The products are available for sale at high-end salons and upscale shops such as Barneys New York department store.
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We "are beyond thrilled to bring our concept back home, to Philadelphia,” Breen said. “It has been a dream of ours since we opened the first location in 2010. We are beyond excited that it is finally becoming a reality.”
Josh Haber and Jason Kramer of real estate services organization Binswanger Management Corp. represented Blind Barber in its expansion into Philadelphia. Hale Building-owner Brickstone Cos. was represented by Scott Benson and Michael Gorman of Metro Commercial Real Estate Inc.
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