The solstice has arrived, summer is here – and if the heat wave has got you itching for a fresh haircut, try out Blends Co. Barber Lounge on Bridge Street in Catskill.
Owned and operated by Catskill native Keo Branch, Blends opened in August 2023 and has quickly become a fixture of its neighborhood. Featuring a plush sitting area complete with TV, video games, and a pool table, you almost forget that you’re waiting for a haircut until Branch invites you into his chair.
“Everything about this is a blessing,” Branch says, surveying the space. “I always had a passion for cutting hair – I just never had access to learning how to do it properly.”
Born in Hudson, Branch graduated from Catskill High in 2013. “I was a class clown,” he remembers, smiling at the memory of his younger self. “I was into mischief.”
A brief period of post-grad wanderlust led Branch back to his hometown, where he started taking classes in physical therapy at Columbia-Greene. He changed course, however, upon learning that a couple of his friends were apprenticing at Paul Mitchell Beauty School in Schenectady.
“That’s when everything started falling into place. Pieces of the puzzle.”
Of course, one must do a fair amount of sifting before a puzzle takes shape – and just as Branch pivoted careers, the pandemic hit. But lockdown yielded an unexpected opportunity: he realized that he could practice barbering on friends and family without the competition of shops.
“People still needed haircuts, so they were willing to let me cut their hair and practice.”
Within a year, Branch had secured his barber’s license and taken a job at Bones Barbershop in Kinderhook. Three years later, he’d saved enough money to open his own business.
“I’m big on being my own boss,” Branch muses. “You can’t control the hand you’re dealt. So I’m just learning how to play this hand and make it work for me.”
Indeed, to spend any amount of time speaking with Branch gives you the impression that he’s very intentional about the hand he’s playing. He graduated from the University of Albany with a degree in accounting this past May, and he talks of expanding Blends to additional locations.
“This is one door to open up many others,” he says, the essence of quiet confidence. “It’s just the beginning for me. The first chapter.”
In the meantime, though, the door to his Catskill shop is always open. While we were speaking, a group of new customers stepped inside and Branch easily slipped into host mode – offering everyone a seat, inviting them to put on music.
“I want everyone who comes into Blends to feel at home, and comfortable,” he explained. And in fact, as we wrapped up the interview, the first of these customers, a young boy, climbed into the barber chair I’d just been sitting in; I left the shop as Branch spoke to him with calm familiarity, while waving a pair of scissors over his head.
The kid was cool as can be.
Blends Co. Barber Lounge is located at 28 Bridge Street in Catskill, and is open Tuesday through Thursday, 10am to 6pm, Friday and Saturday from 10am to 7pm. You can book an appointment online at www.vagaro.com/blendsco.
Ben Rendich is a filmmaker and writer. He’s in pre-production on his first feature, Sweet Confusion, and has a blog where he writes movie reviews and essays called Reflections on a Silver Screen. He lives in Catskill.