Peddler’s Village barbers find new home after roof collapse
When Sarah Mangos came to work the day after the February blizzard, she was snowed under by what she saw.
The roof of the Barbershop at Peddler’s Village on Route 24 had caved in during the storm.
“We were coming into work, went to open the door and I’m like, ‘Oh my God,’ it’s a wreck,” Mangos said.
She sent a picture to owner Cathy Davis, who could not believe her eyes, at first.
“I said, ‘I don’t know what I’m looking at,’ so I called her and she said, ‘I’m shaking. You’re not going to believe what happened,’” Davis said.
Even though the barbershop equipment was destroyed, all was not lost. Christie DeMartin, owner of the Anchor & Iron Salon, right across the street, came to the rescue.
DeMartin took over as sole owner of the salon, formerly the Dean Christie Salon, at the start of the year. She was already looking to hire a barber and hair stylist for her team. The timing was perfect.
DeMartin hired Davis, Mangos and a third barber, Destiny Childress, to work in her salon until the barbershop is back in business. They started to cut hair again in their new temporary home March 10.
“I just want to help people. I feel like I was divinely guided to reach out to them, and it couldn’t be more convenient with them being right across the street,” DeMartin said.
On their first day, the lobby at Anchor & Iron was packed with loyal barbershop customers.
“We’re all sorry it happened; lucky nobody was in it,” said Lee Tamburrino, who has been getting his hair cut at the barbershop for the last few years. “That was a heck of a snowfall, and a flat roof is a flat roof.”
A little (snow) off the top could have gone a long way. The gift shop next door has also been forced to close because of concerns over the stability of its roof.
Davis said they are in the process of making repairs and hope to reopen the barbershop as soon as possible.
“We might have to get a new sign. We didn’t do anything with [the barbershop sign]. It’s kind of antiquey, and it’s been there forever,” Davis said.
Bill Shull has been covering Lewes for the Cape Gazette since 2023. He comes to the world of print journalism after 40 years in TV news. Bill has worked in his hometown of Philadelphia, as well as Atlanta and Washington, D.C. He came to Lewes in 2014 to help launch WRDE-TV. Bill served as WRDE’s news director for more than eight years, working in Lewes and Milton. He is a 1986 graduate of Penn State University. Bill is an avid aviation and wildlife photographer, and a big Penn State football, Eagles, Phillies and PGA Tour golf fan. Bill, his wife Jill and their rescue cat, Lucky, live in Rehoboth Beach.
