April 2009 Editorial

Welcome back to another edition of Kennedy’s lifestyle publication, The Guidebook for the Successful Gentleman. We’ve received tons of feedback lately – so please keep them coming to info@kennedysbarberclub.com. We’ve even received a few comments on our blog about the Ultimate Kennedy’s Movie List from last month. And before you chastise me for excluding any John Wayne movies [sorry – slipped my mind], know this: I inadvertently didn’t give credit to one of the all-time greatest Kennedy’s men. I mistakenly said Jimmy Stewart played the lead in North by Northwest, when it was really Cary Grant. My apologies to Jimmy and Cary and to all the readers scratching their heads and wondering about it.

One of the more interesting things we’ve heard this month happened not once, but twice: sightings of a Kennedy’s magazine being read in a doctors’ office, nowhere near a Kennedy’s club. Guess we’ve given you and plenty of others a new “must-read” publication — just make sure to take your magazine with you wherever you go.

You may be wondering, why we have our first female on the cover? Well, the easy answer is: it had to happen someday. Many other guy-oriented magazines have had quite a bit of success putting women on their magazines covers (and no, I’m not just talking about Hef). The real reason is that we, the founders of Kennedy’s (often called “the Crew” by our vendors and friends), admire her. While we may not admire the goofy character she played many years ago on Three’s Company, we do admire her entrepreneurial spirit, her acting talents, and her can-do attitude. If you’re not as familiar with her background as we are, then you’ll definitely want to read the piece on page 18 to learn more.
Speaking of what you may not know… I’ve had some crazy travels around the country these past several weeks, and it’s starting to wear me out. I’ve always believed that in crisis lies opportunity, but unlike the many who get paralyzed by the doom-and-gloom, my best plan (thus far) is to redouble efforts.

In that regard, I’ve been capital-raising for my other primary business, Mercantile Capital Corporation (we’re an award-winning, national commercial lender that finances commercial property only for business owners and entrepreneurs – you might recall from our January issue that our Kennedy’s president, Tony Zara, and I financed so many franchises for years, that we finally wanted to do our own). Mercantile is off to its best year ever with so little competition these days from the “zombie banks,” but we’re raising additional capital to take advantage of the phenomenal opportunities across the landscape and grow even faster.

I’ve also been speaking with numerous journalists about the Obama Administration’s plans for the small business community – something that hasn’t been given nearly enough attention to in the early part of his first 100 days. And here at Kennedy’s, I’ve been meeting and hosting new prospective franchisees, while helping our existing franchisees grow their market share.

You should know that even when I travel, I’m still “on” in the downtimes. I make it a point to “visit” (“inspect” might be a better word) our alleged competition anywhere I go when I have a few extra hours. I’ve already made it to three different barbershop concepts in the past six months. Two were small franchises like us, but truth be told, I had a “lacking” experience at both. While you might smirk and say to yourself, “But Chris, you’re biased.” You are absolutely correct… but I know what I like and what should occur, so perhaps I’m even a “connoisseur” at this point – the best person to test the competition. The most recent one I visited in Beverly Hills (The Shave) had the closest experience yet to the one you get every month at your local Kennedy’s. I’ll admit it. It still wasn’t better or even as good, but it was the closest yet. The other two… well let’s just say having barbers play cards at a table in the middle of a Saturday while MTV’s Jackass blares in the background… or scrapping my bone-dry face with a razor after having water run into my mouth when my clippings were washed out… aren’t exactly my idea of fun.

You’re a customer of something special, and we intend to spread the word and bring our unique concept to communities everywhere. Cherish your next visit… for it’s far worse out there. Your Kennedy’s club should serve as a place of refuge from the surrounding climate. Even in these tougher economic times, you should savor a great haircut and a relaxing shave. They’re two of the most civilized things a man can do.

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