Bear Cuts, a student-owned hair salon offering a variety of services, will become the newest addition to the Gregg storefronts this fall.

Sophomores Vihar Desu, Ben Trunnel and Ben Tiger co-own Bear Cuts, which will be located in the now-empty storefront next to the Shopping Stop. They have set a tentative launch date of Oct. 1, contingent upon approval from the Student Entrepreneurship Program (StEP) board.

Sophomores Ben Trunnel, left, Ben Tiger and Vihar Desu stand in front of the newly opened Bear Cuts, a business geared towards giving students an affordable and convenient place to have their hair cut. The three created the business after finding no easy way to get a haircut during their freshman year.

Trunnel said the initial desire to create a hair salon on the South 40 came after he had a hassle

last year finding somewhere to get his hair cut.

“I thought that [it] was pretty inconvenient with the time and the money to get a haircut,” Trunnel said. “So, I saw a need for a hair salon—if the StEP business program would allow one—right on campus.”

While the three co-owners are responsible for running the business, they will not be cutting their customers’ hair.

“That’s one of the most common questions we get—if we’re cutting the hair, and we’re not,” Tiger said.

The Bear Cuts team has hired two professional barbers/stylists to cut, style and color hair, and they are currently looking for a third stylist to fill their third chair. Once the business is up and running, customers will be able to book an appointment online via bearcutswashu.com, which is currently under development. Walk-ins will also be accepted.

Although services will be available for both men and women, Trunnel said they expect the business to draw in more men, at least when the business first opens.

“Our primary target would be guys looking for a haircut, just because it happens more often than girls looking for haircuts,” Trunnel said. “However, with the two stylists we have—they both have guys’ and girls’ haircut experience, and they’re both good with styling girls’ hair, and those are services we’ll offer. We expect the girls’ market to pick up when they realize it’s not just a guys’ haircut place.”

Desu noted that service will be focused on quality, and he said prices will reflect the experience of the barbers Bear Cuts employs.

“The way we’re kind of going to be basing our business is [on] quality services over cheap services because we spent a lot of time finding the right people to have on board,” Desu said. “The ones we have are just not straight out of college; they have a lot of experience. They have a huge portfolio of different kinds of hair they have cut, so we are excited.”

Tiger added that they also factored in the convenience of getting a haircut on the South 40 when setting prices.

“Even though we have quality barbers, we are pricing competitively. We did look at other salons in the area, especially with Uber rides and that sort of thing, so it is reasonable,” Tiger said.