Jerry Cottone has owned Larchmont Barber Shop since 1964. (Andrew Khouri)

But what may seem like a plus for long-haired Angelenos, does not bode well for a business owner like Cottone.  When prices rise, it usually means the economy has as well.  People can afford to pay more, so business owners respond by raising their prices.  But when hard times arrive—and if higher prices would drive away too many customers—those prices remain stagnant or may even decrease.  That’s less money for owners, especially because prices of goods needed to do business don’t always follow the same trajectory.

“I just keep it the same (because of the economy)," Cottone said. “Some people don’t pay it. Some people walk out when they see it, because they can go to a cheaper place.”

Cottone said when the recession hit, he began to see less of his customers, many who have been stopping by for decades.

“Instead of coming every month, they will stretch it out to five or six weeks,” said Cottone, 72, who has owned the shop since 1964 and worked here since 1957, when his father owned the business.

To make matters worse, Cottone was forced to close for four months two-and-a-half years ago for medical reasons, and again last year for six weeks.  He estimates he lost 50 percent of his business the first time, and about 30 percent the second.  The closures led to the loss of much of his clientele, he said, and compounding the problem, Cottone can no longer work as many hours because of his health issues.

“That’s the problem, you got to put the time in,” he said, adding he’s looking for the right time to move on and retire, but not before things turn around.

“Not yet,” he said. “I got to build it up a little more. That’s what I got to do.”

Barbers and hairdressers received a sliver of good news recently.  The consumer price index, which measures the change in the price consumers pay for goods, rose in December for personal care services, which includes haircuts.   The CPI for personal care services rose 0.8 percent from a year ago, and 0.2 percent from November, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Haircuts are looked to by economists as an economic indicator, because if consumers are willing to pay a high price for trimming back excess hair, they no doubtfully have money to spend on other, more pressing needs.

But such figures don’t mean much, Cottone said.

“I don’t see the economy turning around at all," he said. "For the thousands of jobs (that have been) created, you got millions of people out of work.”

One reason prices stand at $25 a cut, Cottone said, is high rents in upscale Larchmont Village.

"Rents on Larchmont are not chicken feed," he said. "It's a high class neighborhood. If you don't charge to make the money to pay the rent, you are out of business." 

Cottone, who declined to say how much he pays for rent, said he fears "all hell is going to break loose" if he loses his current landlady.

"The rents are high, but they are going to go sky-high when whoever gets the building once she passes on," he said. 

Even though the economy has been slow to recover, Cottone says he won’t flirt with lowering his prices, partly due to the high rents, but also for a more personal reason.

“I won't do that, because it took me too long to get it up to where it is. I’ll go out of business before I lower the price.”

Reach reporter Andrew Khouri here.