For Men Only : Umberto Clients Get the Works in Beverly Hills-Style Barbershop

There is no red and white barber’s pole spiraling outside the door, no old-time barber dispensing advice inside. And this salon has 35 chairs, not three.

Still, ask Umberto Savone to describe his new 6,000-square-foot Umberto Men salon, which opened in Beverly Hills in late May, and he’ll tell you it’s a throwback to an old-fashioned barbershop, like the one in Mamaroneck, N.Y. where he worked 25 years ago.

“It’s the barbershop concept in that it’s for men only,” says Umberto, explaining that, inside the white marble interior, stylists provide such time-honored services as free neck and side-burn cleanups and hot-towel, straight-razor shaves.

They also offer modern services such as chest, back and ear waxing, facials, manicures, pedicures and hair replacement. There’s backgammon for clients with idle time.

And, of course, there are haircuts. “Men used to come into a barbershop and didn’t want their hair washed. They just wanted a $1.75 cut and to get out of there quickly,” Umberto says, adding that price (a haircut is $35) and speed (usually less than 40 minutes) are still important in the men’s grooming business.

Although it is legal, feminists may not appreciate the salon’s men-only approach. “Our policy will be to refuse women,” says Umberto. “We have a salon two blocks away and we will politely suggest they visit us there. We don’t have the equipment here to do most women’s haircuts.”

Although the salon has made concessions to a modern world (there is a special room for hair coloring and a cappuccino bar and restaurant in the lobby for “wives and girlfriends to wait”), some things never change.

“Most men still feel embarrassed having a manicure or their hair colored in front of the woman in their life,” Umberto says. “Our goal is to provide these services in a stress-free environment.”