“Enjoy your retirement Dennis, you deserve it. It’s all about you now – we will miss your smiling face”
Denny Kerrigan is retiring as a barber after 60 years in Kirkdale(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
Well wishes have flooded in for a Liverpool barber who is retiring after 60 years in business. Dennis Kerrigan spoke to the ECHO about his decision to retire from Denny’s Barbershop on Stanley Road in Kirkdale after dedicating 60 years of his life to the business.
Dennis took on the business in 1965, when he was still a teenager, and in the decades since he has cut the hair of generations of customers from the same families. Through the years, Dennis has cut the hair of everyone from local, loyal customers to famous faces from across the city.
And his incredible reputation in the local area was clear to see in the flood of comments that were shared on the Liverpool ECHO’s Facebook page this morning. Jason Hayes said: “Dennis cut all our hair when we grew up in the Flower Streets and the local area from the 1970s onwards. Well loved and liked around Kirkdale and has remained good friends with most, including our family. Best of luck Dennis.”
Maria McShane said: “Enjoy your retirement Dennis, you deserve it. It’s all about you now – we will miss your smiling face. A lovely gentleman.” And Sheila Foley said: “Enjoy your retirement Dennis. I will miss having a talk with you. All the best relaxing now.”
Dennis left school in 1962 and after a brief spell working in a garage, he started his career as a barber in the original site of Denny’s Barber Shop, which was on the opposite side of Stanley Road. He said: “I wasn’t always tied into the barbershop, but this was my home. If people wanted to catch me, I was always there.”
His familiar face will be sorely missed in the area, with Miriam Cooper commenting on the ECHO Facebook page to say: “Will be truly missed. Enjoy your retirement.” Mary McArdle said: “You’ll most certainly be missed on Stanley Road Dennis.”
Denny Kerrigan is retiring as a barber after 60 years in Kirkdale(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
Lots of other customers commented to wish Dennis well in his retirement. Linda Carroll said: “A lovely man. Wish you a very happy retirement Dennis.” Shelagh Walmsley said: “Enjoy your retirement. Well deserved.” Maureen John Geraghty said: “Aww happy retirement Dennis.”
After so many years running the barber shop, Robert Jones said Dennis’s retirement would be the “end of an era”.
A huge part of the community for decades, a number of Dennis’ customers contacted the ECHO to tell us about his retirement. With such longevity in the area, Dennis has seen generations, many from the same family, come through his door.
Dennis said: “I’ve probably done only about four generations of certain families over the years. Right from the young lad getting his haircut for the first time, maybe about three or four and I’d probably go onto his dad, then his dad, then maybe his dad.”
Denny Kerrigan is retiring as a barber after 60 years in Kirkdale(Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
Loyal customers have also come to know Dennis for his famous catchphrase, once displayed on the sign of the shop. In an old photo shared with the ECHO, you can see the saying ‘It’ll be alright when it’s washed, honest!’ and above, the locations Paris, New York, London and Stanley Road printed.
Dennis said: “I think I just used to say it naturally. If there was a problem, say their hair was sticking out all over the place and I couldn’t control it, I’d say listen, it’ll look alright when it’s washed, it’ll be sound, don’t worry about it.
“Then you say it a couple of times and you’ve got a few people behind you sitting down, it doesn’t take long before they start ripping you does it? I’d walk in the local pub that night and you get a shout from across the bar – Denny! Denny! You said it would be alright when it’s washed – look at the state of me! So it just went round and it’s just stuck for 60 years now.”
A photograph of Barber Denny Kerrigan’s old shop on Stanley Road, with the saying ‘It’ll be alright when it’s washed, honest!’ (Image: Photo by Andrew Teebay)
After 60 years as a barber, Dennis has said now he feels it is the right time to retire. Into next week, he said he will continue to close the shop up and has already given away memorabilia that have long decorated the walls to customers and local businesses.
But he said what he will miss most about the shop is “the people” he’s come to know and see regularly over the last six decades. Dennis said: “I’ll miss them all, you know. I feel good about it and you know, I can sit down and say, well, I think I’ve done alright down here.
“I think I’ve helped out when I’ve needed to help and it’s not just cutting people’s hair. I will miss the shop, there’s no doubt about that.”