Apprentice Roger Grotton (left) and business partner D.J. Jones stand with their chairs at Dark Harbor Barber Co.’s new location at 904 Main St. in Waldoboro. Both were friends of business owner Sam Weldon and took on apprenticeships to join him in the business. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
A full-service barbershop opened its doors at 904 Main St. in Waldoboro this month, expanding a Rockland-based business operated by a group of former customers.
Dark Harbor Barber Co. owner Sam Weldon’s business partner D.J. Jones and apprentices Roger Grotton and Brian Williams started out as customers. They quickly became his friends and made career changes to join him behind the chair.
The Waldoboro location, which offers fades, haircuts, razor shaves, and beard trims, began accepting customers on April 11 in its newly renovated space. When they complete their 1,600 hour apprenticeships, Grotton and Williams will head the shop.
“If you hang out in the barbershop long enough, you’re going to end up cutting hair,” Weldon said with a laugh.
He said he has 10 years of experience as a barber “at the busiest and best-known shops in southern Maine,” and after seven or eight years felt ready to strike out on his own.
Weldon said the Midcoast made sense to him as a place where young people are moving and raising families; a rush of new residents during the pandemic kept them busy.
Dark Harbor Barber’s first location opened in his native Rockland in 2020 and soon moved into a larger space on Main Street there.
Business grew “fantastically,” Weldon said, and when he was ready to expand Waldoboro was his first choice.
“Waldoboro’s pretty great,” he said. “It’s a working community, it’s a fishing community, and we already had customers in Rockland that came from there … that’s proof of concept.”
He plans to open a third shop in Belfast by the end of the year.
“The big focus for us is being able to provide that really high quality service and relationship,” Weldon said.
That relationship focus led him to his business partner and two apprentices.
For Jones, the shift to working in the barbershop came at a time in which he was “burning out” from his career in law enforcement.
He gave Weldon, who cut his son’s hair, a call and “never looked back,” he said. He completed a 1,600-hour apprenticeship to join as a business partner.
Dark Harbor Barber Co.’s location at 904 Main St. in Waldoboro. The shop opened April 11, addinga second location to the Rockland-based business founded by Sam Weldon in 2020. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
“It went from him doing ride-alongs with me as a police officer to me getting out of law enforcement and cutting hair with him,” Jones said.
Jones said he was the “barracks barber” while in the military, but found the job was different when done professionally.
“You can fade a little bit, but once you start getting into the blending from the top down to the bottom and from short hair to long hair, it’s a whole other level,” Jones said.
Grotton said every head of hair is different, based on texture and growth. The Dark Harbor barbers cut them all, Jones said, including for women wanting under-cuts or sides shaved.
Grotton, a former boatbuilder specializing in repairs, has been friends with Weldon since childhood. Williams also worked in boatbuilding, was one of Weldon’s first Rockland customers, and eventually joined him in the shop.
Grotton said the detail-oriented skills developed in his trade have translated well to the apprenticeship.
“On the surface, it’s just making short hair shorter, but being an accomplished barber, it’s all in the details,” Weldon agreed. “If somebody’s already got the ability to see things for the finite details … they’re already half of the way there.”
The team worked together on the bulk of the renovations, putting in seven days a week for over a month to create their new interior for the two-seat shop.
Grotton said the Waldoboro welcome has been warm so far. He has seen customers come in who used to cut their hair at home instead of traveling to larger towns.
“It’s nice to be able to bring it back this way and help people out,” he said. “Now there’s something a little closer for them.”
Working together as friends lends a familiar atmosphere to both shops, Grotton said, and customers will come in to visit without getting a haircut.
“They want to hang out, listen to the banter, and just chill. That’s what I did all the time before I became part of the business,” he said.
“Then you just poke the bear a little bit and watch them go,” he said with a laugh.
Weldon said his Rockland location has become a part of the community, and he and his team hope to bring the same approach to Waldoboro.
Roger Grotton, an apprentice at Dark Habor Barber Co.’s Waldoboro location, arranges Suavecito hair products. Grotton is a childhood friend of business founder Samuel Weldon, and made the move to barbering from boatbuilding. He said his detail-oriented skills transfer well to hair. (Elizabeth Walztoni photo)
“Our door is open even if you don’t need a haircut. Anyone that needs a good laugh, a good five minutes of rest from their day, that’s the community we’re trying to foster,” Weldon said. “It’s their barbershop, not ours.”
The business also offers a straight blade razor shave to the back of the neck and hot towel shaves for customers, along with free whiskey and beer.
Members of the military, first responders, children, and senior citizens receive $5 off services.
Dark Harbor Barber Co., at 904 Main St. in Waldoboro, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information or to make an appointment, go to darkharborbarbercompany.com or call 602-9733.
