By CASEY NEILL
“SIT down, sit down – I’ll fix you up.”
Barber Pasquale ‘Peter’ Feola has been uttering these words in Springvale for almost 50 years.
But his loyal customers will have to turn elsewhere for a trim or cutthroat shave after 24 December.
The 73-year-old is closing the door to Peter’s Men’s Hairstyles in Queens Avenue, Springvale, for the final time.
Peter started a hairdressing apprenticeship in his home country of Italy when he was 14 years old.
He followed his brother and sister to Australia, arriving in Port Melbourne on 25 June 1960.
“Italy in the old days, it was not very good,” he said.
“There was no hope.”
Peter opened his first salon in Springvale in 1967 and moved across the road to his current location in 1988.
As the Journal waited to speak with him, he ushered a customer into his old-fashioned barber chair, hanging up their coat on a wooden hat stand.
The chair groaned as he adjusted the height. His clacking scissors were in constant motion as he methodically worked his way from one side of the man’s head to the other.
He chatted as he worked, asking about work and family, but never were his scissors still.
Peter’s customers have become his family, he said, and he’ll miss the interaction.
He said his age, shoulder pain and a declining customer base were behind his decision.
“I’ll try to work part time a couple of days. My wife is a few years younger than me and she’s still working,” he said.
“I’ll do the gardening, cut the grass – I can cook!”
Peter said clearing out the shop would be a sad day.
“It’s a bit sad, but you’ve gotta go,” he said, his eyes filling with tears.
“I want to say to the people, thank you very much.”
