1 in 8700: Sue Lahai and Tracy Raymond

Sue Lahai and Tracy Raymond have been cutting hair side by side at Bud’s Barbershop for over 18 years.

The shop was opened in 1971 by Bud, according to Raymond.

“He worked up right until ninety, so whatever clientele he had left we grabbed. This has been here for over sixty years. So everybody knows us.”

One customer, a regular at the shop, joked with them during his haircut.

Bud’s Barbershop is “the only place in town to get a good old fashioned haircut,” he asserted. “Just a buzzer to your head, that’s all you need.”

The prices per cut are the lowest in town, at an even twelve dollars. The shop is currently open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, and 7:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

Before the barbershop, Lahai and Raymond did work at a salon, but they “both left for various reasons,” explained Sue. “[Tracy] was allergic to the color and stuff, and my back couldn’t do the shampoos anymore, so we both did this. This doesn’t require shampoo or color or anything.”

Sue reminded me that in addition to their decades of experience, both attended barber schools. “It’s not like we came out of high school knowing what to do,” she said.

The shop sees a mix of local residents, and during the school year, Middlebury College students and faculty.

“We get a lot of summer school kids too,” said Tracy. “We also get Bread Loaf, and the town fills in when you guys aren’t here.”

“Middlebury College, I have to admit, supports us pretty well,” said Lahai. “When you guys are gone we definitely know.”

Because of local construction, the shop will be demolished at the end of the month. Bud’s new location, 28 Court Street, is just a short walk away.

“They’re putting tunnels in,” Tracy said. “The traintracks need to be lower so they can get the taller trains through.”

Tracy thinks the move is a good choice. “[The new building] has handicap accessibility, and parking, and it’s still close to the college. We have a lot of older customers that need that ramp. That’s difficult to find in town.”

Still, Tracy believes the experience of cutting hair will be different. Sue agreed: “Yeah it definitely is. We’ve worked like twelve inches apart for eighteen years, and now we’re going to be like, three feet apart. It’s gonna seem very strange.”