Five years ago, much of Lake Street lay in ruins in the aftermath of the unrest sparked by the murder of George Floyd. It wasn’t just the 3rd Precinct that sustained heavy damage; many other buildings were set ablaze or nearly destroyed. LV’s Barber Shop, a thriving six-chair business just off East Lake Street, was in one of these spots.
"At first, I felt devastated, because my barbers were left with no shop to work in. I wasn’t quite sure what was going to happen—there was a lot of uncertainty,” says owner Lamberto Vergara. “We had a shop but it wasn’t in working condition.”
LV, as he is better known, had run the space, located on 27th Avenue South right by Minnehaha Liquors, for nearly 10 years. During the unrest, the liquor store was totally wiped out by fire while the barbershop sustained severe damage.
That shop is still boarded up and empty, its awning a poignant reminder of what had been. These days you’ll find LV a few blocks down Lake Street at the Minnesota School of Barbering, where he is the owner and lead instructor.
“He’s really patient and knowledgeable,” says Nick Yang, a student who will complete his program in September. “He treats us like we’re family.”
LV, who has an adult daughter plus two younger children with his wife, Ana, has emerged from these challenges with a quiet calmness and a charming sense of optimism.
Brooklyn Barber Shop Roots
Originally from Puebla, Mexico, LV grew up in Brooklyn. At 16, he discovered a Dominican barbershop in his neighborhood and became a weekly regular.
“I liked the different cultures, the atmosphere, the gentlemen there always playing music, talking to the young ones, giving them advice,” says LV, now 44 years old. “It’s something I’ve always enjoyed.”
In 2000, LV's father changed jobs, which prompted his family to move to Minnesota. LV stayed behind to finish a two-year business degree before joining them. In Minnesota, he found work fueling airplanes for what was then Northwest Airlines. By that time, he was also cutting hair “unofficially,” giving co-workers cuts and trims in the locker room and cutting family members’ hair. A manager encouraged him to pursue a license, so he enrolled in the Minnesota School of Barbering.
Next LV went to work for Jimmy Mills, owner of J-Klips on East Lake Street at the Hi-Lake Shopping Center. Mills became a mentor, sharing haircutting tips and business knowledge. “He taught me a lot about running a barber business so that I could eventually venture out,” LV says.
“Our establishment has primarily been supported by the Black community,” says Mills, who has been barbering for nearly 40 years. “LV defied the odds. He was the first person of Hispanic descent to come and work in this all-Black establishment. And he flourished here. It was impressive … He has a strong skill set. A man’s gift will make way for you.”
With Mills’s blessing, LV left after two years to open his own shop in 2011. Through customers he gained as a student barber and later at J-Klips, LV developed a strong following and built a solid business, eventually employing five other barbers.
Then came 2020. First, the Covid-19 pandemic shut down LV’s for three months. At the time, he had been expanding into the tattoo shop next door and had been mulling over opening a second location elsewhere in town.
“We had to chill,” he recalls. “We didn’t know how long we’d be closed.”
In late May, they got the news that barbershops could re-open on June 1. But on May 25, George Floyd was murdered by police. Days of protests and eventual rioting ensued, and many buildings around the area, including his shop, burned.
“It kept escalating,” he says, adding that the protests were important and necessary. “It’s what makes us who we are… although maybe not setting buildings on fire.”
During that chaos, LV closed his shop and boarded up the windows. “Still, I had five barbers who needed a place to work after not working for three months because of the pandemic,” he says. So he moved forward with his expansion plans and opened a shop in northeast Minneapolis.
Five years later, the shop would move again when its lease ended. This time LV decided on a more affordable space in Richfield. He would also go on to open Twin Cities Barber Supply next to the Lake Street school as well as another barbershop in Bloomington.
Back to School
After graduating from the Minnesota School of Barbering years ago, LV would return as one of its instructors, eventually becoming a business partner with long-time owner Peggy Schmidt, who founded the school in 1986. Last year, LV took over as sole owner and lead instructor.
“As a student, he was just so focused. He was kind to everyone and well-mannered,” she says. “We’ve sometimes had a rough crowd at that school. Let’s face it, our students aren’t deciding between Princeton, Harvard, or the Minnesota School of Barbering… in some cases we had guys coming out of prison.”
That’s still the case with a few students, who enroll at the school while living at halfway houses. “And LV is always willing to give someone a chance,” she says.
A $70,000 grant from the Lake Street Council helped LV purchase the school from Schmidt. In the aftermath of the unrest, the council raised $12 million and started the We Love Lake Street Fund to help businesses along the corridor.
“Small businesses took the brunt [of the damage from the riots],” says ZoeAna Martinez, community engagement manager for the council. “He really is committed to this community and fostering spaces where individuals can grow and learn a skill. He helps prepare them to work in barbershops and potentially open their own shops.”
These days, the barber school is at capacity, with 25 future barbers currently enrolled and 25 on a waiting list.
Shadow LV for an afternoon and you’ll find him in constant motion, reviewing a fresh cut on a customer in one chair, shifting to another chair to guide a student carefully doing a straight-razor shave, and checking in at the front of the shop to answer questions from a prospective student who’s dropped in.
LV thrives in his element and truly believes that barbering can be a solid career, as he himself has seen what he calls “the transformative power” of learning the craft.
“I’ve been there,” he says. “I’ve been in their shoes and now I’m able to teach someone else the same fundamentals that were taught to me, kind of pass it on, pass it forward. I see people come in and want to learn, they want to go out there and be barbers, be entrepreneurs, and build their business. My job is to help them do that.”
