Don’t be fooled by the name — you don’t have to be short, like easy ways out, or want short hair to be a Short Cuts customer.
Owner Valerie Pawlukewich Seefelt said the name actually originated from the business’s roots in Pennytown in Hopewell about 20 years ago.
Seefelt recounted the story of how the business began with a man named Charles and his barbershop. As more and more fathers came into the shop with requests for their children’s hair to be cut too, Charles decided to create a children’s salon in the side room in the shop.
“So he used to say, ‘let’s take them on a shortcut to the side room here,’” Seefelt said. “And it just kind of stuck.”
Charles began to hire staff members for the kids’ section of the shop. One of them was Carol Owens, who established the current Robbinsville location of Short Cuts and remained there as owner until selling the business to Seefelt two years ago.
“This is a true nostalgic ‘mom and pop’ place,” Seefelt said. “My husband’s the ‘pop’ and I’m the ‘mom,’ and he has a lot to do with owning the business, even though I’m the sole owner.”
After only one year of working as a stylist at Short Cuts, Seefelt signed the lease as owner. The Robbinsville resident, known to her customers as “Miss Val,” said part of the importance of the salon is the connection and the caring quality customers will have there.
“It’s a place parents can come to make a memory, to know that they can establish a rapport with the stylists here, to get to know the kids, their child’s like or dislikes, or even their special needs,” Seefelt said. “They come here and begin their memories as children, and then through their teen years.”
She’s used the past two years as owner to make two major changes.
The first was a redesign of the store’s sign, brought about by a minor disaster. A windy storm in the spring was the last straw when it came to the faulty neon store sign. The sign, whose light often blew out when it rained, crashed to the ground, giving Seefelt the chance at a do-over.
“For my first thing as the new owner, I set my thoughts on getting this sign redone, but I didn’t have the funds,” Seefelt said. “And now I’m really super proud of it. I love it, it’s bright, and you can see it from a mile away.”
Some other recent remodeling can be found inside the shop in the form of a “teen space.” Where there used to be a section of toys and games for children are now three new styling stations geared toward teens.
“Having the teen space would make it possible to keep the kids that were otherwise leaving,” Seefelt said. “It’s for kids to grow into when they can’t fit on the tractors or bunnies anymore.”
Seefelt’s most recent hire to the staff is a Robbinsville High School graduate who actually received her own first haircut at Short Cuts. “The nature of our shop, the mindset, is quality,” Seefelt said. “It’s not about how many we can get in and out the door.”
Short Cuts is located at 1009 Washington Blvd. in the Foxmoor Shopping Center in Robbinsville. Shop hours are Tuesday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information, call the store at (609) 443-3800 or go online to short-cuts-salon.com.
