Photos
Our Gallery
🔑 Where It All Began — Buying 125 Coldharbour Road
In December 1993, Salvatore and his wife purchased 125 Coldharbour Road — the future home of Salvatore's Barber Shop. The property had previously been occupied by Marion Gay, a shop selling tights, cotton wool, name tags and haberdashery.
These photos capture the very beginning — standing outside the closing-down shop, and the empty shell inside waiting to be transformed. From these bare walls, one of Bristol's most beloved barber shops was born.
The shop opened its doors for the first time in April 1994, and has been serving the Westbury Park and Redland community ever since — over 30 years and counting.
🎉 Grand Opening — Salvatore's Barber Shop
On 9th April 1994, Salvatore's Barber Shop opened its doors for the very first time at 125 Coldharbour Road, Westbury Park, Bristol.
These photographs capture the excitement of that special day — the gleaming new shop front with the barber's pole, the freshly fitted interior with the iconic black and white chairs, the waiting area with its classic Hollywood portraits on the walls, a young Salvatore behind the counter, and family and friends gathered to celebrate the beginning of something truly special.
Over 30 years later, the shop is still going strong — serving thousands of customers and becoming a beloved institution in the Westbury Park and Redland community.
🎨 Febru-HAIRY Day — Gerlando's Italian Flag Mohawk
For Febru-HAIRY Day 2013, Salvatore created something truly special for his son Gerlando before school — a magnificent Italian flag mohawk, with one side dyed red and the other green, split perfectly down the middle.
A brilliant showcase of creative styling, barbering skill and a very adventurous young man who was clearly delighted with the result! The kind of haircut that makes you the most talked-about kid in the school yard.
⚽ Salvatore's Fantasy Football League — 2012/13 Winner
Every season Salvatore's Barber Shop runs its very own Fantasy Premier League for customers — and in May 2013, long-standing customer Martin M. came in to claim his well-deserved prize for winning the 2012/13 season.
As champion, Martin walked away with the ultimate barber's reward — a free haircut and blow-dry. Martin has been a loyal customer for many years and is the kind of person who makes Salvatore's feel like more than just a barber shop — it's a community.
"The best prize a winner could ask for — a Salvatore's haircut!"
📰 Clifton Life Magazine — One of Bristol's Top 5 Barbers
In June 2013, Clifton Life Magazine featured Salvatore's Barber Shop as one of their "Try Five Barbers" — the best barbers to try in Bristol for men who want to look groomed and gentlemanly.
The feature highlighted our extremely good value for money, our online booking system, and our shop selling fragrance and hair products. The magazine praised us as "an establishment that has trained several other barbers working in the local area."
Being chosen alongside four other respected Bristol barbers in a city-wide feature was a real honour and a proud moment for the shop.
✂️ The Team — Salvatore & Luigi
A proud moment capturing Salvatore with staff member Luigi in the shop in October 2013. Luigi went on to open his own barber shop — Luigi's in Staple Hill — a testament to the talent and training that has come through Salvatore's over the years.
As Salvatore has always said, several of Bristol's barbers today started their careers right here on Coldharbour Road.
☕ The World's Furthest Customer — Garry
Ending the day with a well-earned espresso with Garry — officially Salvatore's furthest travelling customer, having made the journey of 10,642 miles to visit the shop.
A pleasant surprise close to Salvatore's birthday, and wonderful to see Garry again after 18 months away. A true testament to what makes a great barber — customers who travel the world but still wouldn't trust anyone else with their hair.
"Hope it's not too long until the next haircut!"
✂️ Movember 2014 — Beard Carving with Brother Mario
To celebrate Movember 2014, Salvatore teamed up with his brother Mario from The Filton Barbers — and marked the occasion in spectacular style by carving the word "BARBER" into Mario's beard.
A true showcase of precision craftsmanship and brotherly trust — not many people would let someone take clippers to their beard to spell a word! The results speak for themselves.
Movember raises vital funds and awareness for men's health issues including prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health.
Learn more about Movember
🦠 Reopening After Covid — Safety First
When Salvatore's Barber Shop reopened after the Covid-19 lockdown closure, no detail was overlooked to make the shop as safe as possible for customers and staff.
A thorough colour-coded cleaning zone system was introduced: Red zones cleaned between every customer, Orange zones cleaned every day, Green zones for tools stored away from the working area, and Yellow zones for information signage.
Hand sanitiser stations were installed, card and contactless payments were encouraged, and every surface was rigorously maintained. A proud example of the care and professionalism Salvatore has always put into the shop and its customers.
🏆 eBay Small Businesses United — The Announcement
We could finally reveal… Salvatore's Barber Shop has been selected as the 2022/23 Small Business United partner for Bristol Rovers, helping small local businesses with great opportunities within their communities.
A huge thank you to eBay UK for this incredible opportunity. Look out for our eBay advertising at the Mem and visit our eBay store below!
Visit our eBay store
🏆 eBay Small Businesses United — Bristol Rovers
Collecting our Small Businesses United Bristol Rovers signed shirt and meeting the legend Adebayo Akinfenwa — aka "The Beast" — at Reading Football Club as part of the eBay EFL partnership.
A fantastic day representing Salvatore's Barber Shop on the national stage. Visit our eBay store at ebay.co.uk/str/salvatoresbarbershop
🎬 eBay Small Businesses United — Ben Foster & SPORTbible
A massive thank you to eBay, SPORTbible and Ben Foster — The Cycling GK for a brilliant day filming the eBay Small Businesses United project at the shop and at Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium.
Ben visited the shop for a haircut on camera, we headed to the Mem to see our name up in lights on the pitch-side LED boards, and the whole day was captured by the SPORTbible film crew for their social media channels.
📸 A Perfect End to a Haircut
Customer David T. summed it up perfectly after his visit: "The perfect end to a haircut: how come it's taken 25+ years?! Thanks for another great haircut!"
A lovely moment capturing the warmth and atmosphere of Salvatore's Barber Shop — Christmas decorations up and a celebratory drink to finish!
Community
Our Charity Work
👃 Red Nose Day 2003 — Comic Relief
Back in 2003, Salvatore's Barber Shop got fully into the spirit of Comic Relief's Red Nose Day — and we didn't do things by halves! The team dyed their hair bright red, donned their red noses and RND03 t-shirts, and raised money for this brilliant charity throughout the day.
Customers could get their hair spiked and dyed red for a donation, and the shop was a hive of fun and laughter. A fantastic day for a fantastic cause — Comic Relief raises millions of pounds to help people living incredibly tough lives across the UK and Africa.
Learn more about Comic Relief
👨 Movember — Prostate Cancer Charity
November is now Movember at Salvatore's Barber Shop. Throughout the whole of November we grew our taches for The Prostate Cancer Charity, donating all our tips plus any donations from our customers.
A massive thank you to everyone who donated — together we raised a brilliant £860 for this fantastic cause.
View our Facebook Movember Post
🐑 Shaun in the City — Bristol Children's Hospital
In the summer of 2015, the Coldharbour Road traders came together to sponsor "Groovy Baby!" — one of 70 giant Shaun the Sheep sculptures placed across Bristol as part of the Shaun in the City arts trail, created by Aardman Animations in aid of The Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital Charity.
Our Groovy Baby! was designed by illustrator Emily Ketteringham and kindly sponsored by the Coldharbour Road BS6 Traders — of which Salvatore's Barber Shop was proud to be a part. The sculpture sat outside our shops and quickly became a local landmark, with Shaun fans flocking to Coldharbour Road to see him throughout the summer.
The trail was a huge success across the city. All 120 sculptures went to auction on 8th October 2015, raising a spectacular £1,087,900 in a single evening for The Grand Appeal and Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity — helping provide life-saving equipment and care for sick children at Bristol Children's Hospital.
Learn more about Shaun in the City
✂️ Brave the Shave — Macmillan Cancer Support
In November 2016, Salvatore's son Gerlando lost his hair to alopecia. Showing incredible courage and positivity, he decided to turn his experience into something meaningful — shaving his head for Macmillan Cancer Support in December 2016.
On the evening of the shave, Salvatore and Anna wrote: "WOW what an evening!! My wife and I are so proud of our son Gerlando and we love him so much. We would like to say a BIG thank you to everyone for their kind messages, support and massive donations. We went over the £3,000 mark this evening which is so much more than we ever expected. Just shows he has so many generous and caring family and friends that love him."
"This started as a way to deal with Gerlando losing his hair and has finished with Macmillan gaining a massive donation to help those that really need it. Gerlando is perfectly healthy and nothing explains his alopecia but we must now get on with life, move on and hopefully see his lovely hair grow again. Love you Big G XXX — Anna & Salvatore"
Learn more about Macmillan Cancer Support
🪒 Fairy Bricks — Simon Davis Charity Shave
It was a pleasure to shave off Simon Davis's beard for his charity Fairy Bricks. Simon's 13-year-old daughter Tatiana had been in remission for 1.5 years but had just been diagnosed with leukaemia. She was amazing on the day, helping clipper off her dad's beard before Salvatore shaved him.
Fairy Bricks is a wonderful charity — if you're a fan of Lego, they provide hospitals with Lego for sick children to play with during their stay. A truly thoughtful and special gift for children going through the toughest of times.
Watch the time-lapse video of the full shave below, and if you'd like to support Simon's fundraiser please visit the donation link.
Watch the full time-lapse shave on Facebook
▶ Watch Video🏃 Bristol 10K — Talk Club
A team of Bristol barbers including Salvatore took on the AJ Bell Great Bristol 10K Run in aid of Talk Club — a UK men's mental health charity helping men improve their mental fitness by encouraging them to talk openly about how they're feeling.
As Salvatore's wife posted on the day: "They did it!!! Proud of you both. Thanks to everyone who donated — they smashed their £5k target. Well done team, and thanks to everyone who donated."
Together the team raised an incredible over £5,000 for this vital cause. A fantastic achievement by everyone involved.
Learn more about Talk Club
🎄 Operation Christmas Hamper — Community Collection
In October 2024 we were proud to support Operation Community Hamper by using our shop on Coldharbour Road as a local drop-off point for donations.
Operation Christmas Hamper collects gifts, food and money to support vulnerable families so that they can enjoy the festive season. As the campaign puts it: "Your contribution will go a long way to support families that may not have anything for Christmas."
We displayed their Christmas Collection appeal on our shop screen and invited customers to drop off donations with us throughout October. Every little helps — and our customers were incredibly generous.
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