Barber Goes Beyond a Shave and a Cut

Enlarge Soren Kuhn

Stephanie Choy (center) and friends hang out at MR. "It's a relaxed, classy environment," she says.

Soren Kuhn

Stephanie Choy (center) and friends hang out at MR. "It's a relaxed, classy environment," she says.

Enlarge Soren Kuhn

Owners Kumi Walker (left) and Sean Heywood stand outside MR. "All men get haircuts, they all love great hospitality and they all love being in nice environments," Heywood says.

Soren Kuhn

Owners Kumi Walker (left) and Sean Heywood stand outside MR. "All men get haircuts, they all love great hospitality and they all love being in nice environments," Heywood says.

Customers who first walk into San Francisco's MR. looking for a shave and a haircut may think they've come to the wrong place, at first. Instead of men reclining with towels under their chins, a more likely sight is young female executives sipping wine on leather sofas.

Then again, MR. is not your typical barber shop. Female bartenders and hostesses in short black skirts mix among the clientele. The shampoo stations are tucked away in the back, and the barber chairs are up on the balcony.

MR. provides high-end grooming services for men with a luxurious touch, such as scalp massages and straight razor shaves. A cut or a shave goes for $65. Men can also choose from three tiers of monthly membership.

Proprietors Kumi Walker and Sean Heywood, both graduates of Stanford's business school, want to cultivate a taste for luxurious grooming services among regular guys, much as Starbucks created a taste for pricier espresso drinks among regular coffee drinkers.

Walker and Heywood plan to open new MR. locations in cities across the U.S.