There’s still a way to go in the rebuild process for Keen Street’s historic Embassy Arcade but Andy Daniel’s Embassy Barbershop is leading the way.

Andy’s barbershop, at the back lane end, is currently the only business operational in the arcade but the buzz of the clippers accompanied by the hum of the generator are welcome signs of life as the rebuild continues on the building.

Andy spoke to the Lismore App whilst attending to one of his regulars, Greg, in the chair.

“I first moved here to this space in June 2020. For most of the duration of the business it’s just been me but then at the end of last year, I bought out Nostalgic up on Keen Street. We ended up having four weeks in there and then the flood hit,” Andy explained.

So why the move?

“It made business sense really. It was up for sale for such a cheap price. I suppose it was an opportunity. It was hard to say no to. It made sense to at least just give it a go. But then after the flood, the way that building was, it made sense to come back here. I never gave the lease up on this space for that four weeks that I was on Keen Street. The only things we had to do was replace the ceiling and a fresh coat of paint. Everything else is the same. The cupboards and floors are the same,” Andy said.

While the rest of the building is still without power and in dark disarray, Andy has borrowed a generator from local tradesman Jamie Bird of Birds Plastering who has been also been hard at work on restoring the arcade’s function and charm.

Jamie, whose crew is also working on adjoining buildings along Keen Street, told the Lismore App that securing electricians has been a challenge as they are in such demand.

“The shops will come back as soon as we get power to finish the job. It’s hard to get anyone. It’s not that they don’t want to but that they can’t,” Jamie said.

“We started months and months ago but it’s come to a halt. We got Andy going first. He won’t be alone for very long,” Jamie added.

In the meantime, Andy and his staff barber Lindsay Tarrant are busy with both chairs buzzing in their compact space.

“I felt like the business was running more smoothly here than what it was there at the other shop. This shop held up really well. I guess a lot of the walls are made of good material and also there’s so much light here so there was no mould at all. We had the windows open every day and the sunlight that comes through really dried things out,” Andy explained.

Proving his resourcefulness like so many local business owners, Andy has been operating his barber service from the spare bedroom in his Goonellabah home until last week when his shop reopened.

“Just about everyone who comes to me regularly has been to my house at least once now,” Andy said with a smile.

Originally from Kyogle, where his parents still live, Andy did his two-year apprenticeship at Nostalgic before starting his own business.

“Nick the landlord has been great. All the work has been done, we didn’t have to fork out for much at all. Like anywhere, it has been a bit of an issue to find tradespeople who have the time to come and do the work. In that regard, it's probably taken a bit longer than we would have liked,” Andy said.

And if it happened again?

“Even if it was just an 11 or 12-metre flood, if the power wasn’t affected, it’s a pretty easy process for us to come in clean it out and go again. It’s the nature of a barbershop. There’s not much stock to get out. I didn’t lose any equipment, we took everything out to my house. It just takes a couple of ute loads. As long as it’s not catastrophic next time, it shouldn’t be too big an issue,” Andy said.

“Before the flood, the goal was to make that a special place up there (on Keen Street) but I’m really happy to be back in here, to be honest. There’s a chance this might just be it from here on in which would be totally fine.”

Embassy Barbershop is currently open Tuesday to Saturday 8am – 6pm.