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Barbershop Owner Hopes Crowdfunding Leads to Repairs

Glory Days Barbershop is more than just a barbershop. The small one-room building is also utilized as a concert space and to display works from local artists.

Kyle Rohweder purchased it two years ago as his career in a punk rock band was winding down. Rohwedersaid the shop needs of renovations. “My floor still needs to be finished. Our chairs needed to be replaced. So far, we have been able to raise enough money to replace one of them. But those chairs cost about a thousand dollars,” Rohweder said.

 The radio story.

The shop is located on the corner of E. Simmons St. and S. Cherry St.

Rohweder said he has not had much luck in receiving funding from the city for the renovations. He also said he didn’t want to raise prices at the shop that would affect who he calls his blue-collar customer base.

That’s when he turned to crowdfunding, a method often used for charities and artistic endeavors. Rohweder setup a GoFundMe page to raise the money for the renovations.

“In order for me to be able to do that without having to ask our government for help since they weren’t real eager to do that anyway. I figured, what better way to ask for a little bit of help from the people that give this place life anyway,” Rohweder said.

Rohweder said he has raised around $1,300 so far from both the web site and through in-person donations. The web page lists a goal of $7,000. He’s received 30 donations so far from the GoFundMe, with the biggest individual gift being a $200 contribution.

Copyright 2021 Tri States Public Radio. To see more, visit Tri States Public Radio.

The interior of Glory Days Barbershop is filled with memoribalia of Elvis Presley and other posters from the 1950's.
T.J. Carson /
The interior of Glory Days Barbershop is filled with memoribalia of Elvis Presley and other posters from the 1950's.
Rohweder is also hopeful to use some of the money raised from GoFundMe for signage outside the building.
T.J. Carson /
Rohweder is also hopeful to use some of the money raised from GoFundMe for signage outside the building.

T.J. Carson is the Galesburg correspondent for Tri States Public Radio. His duties include reporting on current events in the cities of Galesburg and Monmouth, and Knox County. He returns to TSPR after serving as a student reporter and host in 2006. Before Tri States Public Radio, he was a news reporter for WSPL-AM in Streator, IL. At WSPL, T.J. earned two awards from the Illinois Associated Press; Outstanding Single Story Contribution in 2011, and Contributor of the Month for February 2008. T.J. is a native of Lacon, IL. He is a graduate of Midland High School in Varna, IL, where he participated in baseball and football all four years, as well as the Scholastic Bowl team. He received his bachelor's degree from Western Illinois University in the fall of 2006, where he participated in numerous activities for the student-run radio station, as well as public address announcing for the Western Illinois Leatherneck baseball and softball teams. In his spare time, T.J. enjoys baseball, golf, watching animation, and drawing. He has also been a Guest of Honor at fan-created conventions for the television program 'My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic'.