DETROIT – Walk into the Chrysler Building in downtown Detroit, ride up to the second floor, and you’ll find a place that feels like it’s been holding steady while the city changes around it.
It’s called Sam’s Barbershop -- and if the oldies music is setting the mood, that’s on purpose.
Behind the chair is Serafino Zeolla, though almost nobody calls him that. To his customers, he’s just Sam.
“I’m going to be 95, May 28th,” Sam told me.
Yes -- 95.
Sam says he’s been doing this for 72 years in one place.
“I don’t think there’s anybody’s that’s going to beat my record,” he said.
And once you meet him, it’s not hard to see why people keep coming back. The haircut matters, sure -- but so does the feeling you get when you sit down and realize you’re in the hands of someone who’s been listening to Detroit for decades.
Sam’s barber journey goes back to right after high school, when his mother gave him a choice: keep going to school or learn a trade.
“My mother said if you’re not going to continue on going to school, I want you to learn a trade,” he said. “So, I said barber is a good trade to learn. You’re never going to get laid off. You’ll be working all the time.”
Turns out, she was right.
I asked him what keeps him coming to work.
He didn’t give me a cheesy line. He just told the truth.
“To be honest with you, I lost my wife 20 years ago, and I live by myself,” Sam said. “And I enjoy what I do. I look forward to getting up in the morning, come down here, be with people, talk to people. You keep your mind sharp.”
For Sam, the shop is a routine -- but it’s also community.
Over the years, Sam says his customer list has included some well-known names in Detroit.
“I used to have Joe Hudson, who used to own Hudson store downtown,” he said, as he listed the names of other clients which included bankers, lawyers, and other Detroiters.
And you can guess what happens in a chair like that: people talk.
“Believe me, I hear all different stories,” Sam said. “But, you know, a barber is like a priest. Whenever you hear something, it stays here.”
In other words, what’s said in the shop stays in the shop.
His “secret” to staying young
When I asked Sam how he keeps such a youthful spirit, his answer was simple.
“That’s because I keep busy,” he said. “Yeah, mentally and physically.”
And when people call him a legend?
“It feels great. Feels great,” he said. “Thank God I’m still here.”
You can find Sam at Sam’s Barbershop inside the Chrysler Building in downtown Detroit, on the 2nd floor.
Hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
And yes -- if you’ve got something you need to get off your chest, Sam says he’ll keep your secrets.