Chatham's Open Chair Barbershop Eyes Kitchener and London Rollout

Open Chair Barbershop & Salon has operated its 56 Grand Ave. E. flagship in Chatham for roughly three months, and the three partners behind it — Naveed Pasha, Danny Pasha and Saleem Akhtar — have already mapped a multi-city rollout that begins with Kitchener and London.

Pasha built the model on a frustration he lives with personally: finding a good cut on a busy day without booking days or weeks ahead at established salons.

"We're big on walk-ins," he said.

The shop runs until 9 p.m. on weekdays and extends past closing if customers remain in the chair. The address sits on Grand Avenue East, within Chatham's core commercial stretch.

What does Open Chair actually offer?

The team staffs barbers trained in three distinct grooming traditions: Indian-style technique, Middle Eastern methods and modern Western barbering. Traditional Indian head massage sits on the menu alongside those cuts. A dedicated stylist handles female clients exclusively, freeing the barber floor for higher-volume walk-in traffic. Women and girls can also request a private salon room with a separate entrance off the main floor.

Pasha said the service mix reflects Chatham's growing Asian population and a wider effort to serve every demographic under one roof — a deliberate hedge against the siloed operator model common in Southwestern Ontario.

"It's a one-stop shop where you can serve everybody," he said.

How does pricing play out?

Open Chair posts its full menu at openchairbarbershop.com. The shop runs ongoing discounts for children and seniors, a strategy Pasha tied directly to consumer pressure. A dedicated children's play area lets parents hand off kids during their own cuts. A father-and-son package pairs matching cuts with shared play time afterwards — a deliberate pitch to time-pressed two-income households.

"We're thinking outside of the box of how we can give the community a little relief from inflationary prices and great service," Pasha said.

For competing salons in the Chatham-Kent trade area, that positioning carries weight. A walk-in-first shop with discount pricing effectively resets customer expectations on lead times and family value-adds. Operators who can't match either will see pressure on repeat-visit rates.

Who runs the floor?

Danny Pasha manages day-to-day operations. His father, who owns other Chatham businesses, holds the capital and strategy seat. Akhtar rounds out the ownership team as the third partner. The shop's clientele spans men, women, children, seniors and clients who specifically want privacy — typically a tough segment to monetize for high-volume barbershops.

What's the expansion roadmap?

Pasha positioned Chatham as the brand's proving ground, not its ceiling.

"I think it could grow as a brand in the future," Pasha said.

He named Kitchener and London as the first two target cities but stopped short of disclosing opening dates, unit counts or build-out budgets. The next data point to watch is the first new lease. Watch for a second-location announcement or a Chatham-Kent business registry filing — either will tell the trade whether Open Chair is a Chatham one-off or the start of a Southwestern Ontario rollup.