Oneonta native David Morse is honoring his family history while building his future.
Morse, 19, launched Otello’s Barbershop in August, though its namesake, Tony Otello, began cutting hair in Oneonta in the 1950s.
“I started cutting hair when I was 13, during COVID and no barbershops were open,” Morse said. “I started cutting my dad’s hair and brother’s hair and, when I started taking it seriously, my dad told me my great-grandfather was a barber, and I dreamed to open an Otello’s Barbershop one day, after that. He opened his in 1956, after he came back from World War II.”
Kevin Morse, David’s father, said that his son became a master barber before he was 19.
“The kid went his senior year of high school, driving himself to Norwich, because there’s no barbering program in the BOCES here,” Kevin Morse said. “Before he was 18, he got his barber license, then completed the course.”
David Morse said Otello’s services reflect the business’s roots.
“(We offer) old-school hot-towel shaves,” he said. “We’re a very old-school business, but we do modern haircuts, as well. Since it was established in 1956, we like to keep it classic, for sure.”
Kevin Morse said they “spent a lot of time and money” renovating the 389 Chestnut St. property. Formerly a vape shop, the site was sealed by the state following a seizure and closure for illegal cannabis sales last July, as reported in The Daily Star.
“It was definitely a long process, dealing with the state and the closing of the vape shop,” Kevin Morse said. “We had to gut the floors, and there’s still work that needs to be done, but it’s pretty darn good. The main reason we chose the West End was, he was born and raised over here.”
That commitment to community is yielding enthusiasm from local patrons, though David Morse’s reach is broad.
“It’s men and boys, and we get all ages,” David Morse said. “We’re a family-friendly business. We get kids in here that are 4 months old and guys that are 96 that knew my great-grandpa. And it’s the surrounding area. I have clients all the way out to Waverly, almost to Pennsylvania, Norwich, Oneonta, Unadilla. It’s been great and we’ve been seeing numbers I didn’t expect to see for a year, at least.
“I am also sponsored by a large clipper company, and I travel around the U.S. and educate people on how to cut hair,” he continued, “and we are the only barbershop in Oneonta (with) no apprentice, as of February. Every barber is fully licensed and a master barber.”
Morse said he works with “two other guys.”
“(Customers) come from all over, and it’s amazing how many come here — college kids and a lot of locals,” Kevin Morse said. “Before he became a licensed barber, he was working and doing all these videos on Insta, and that launched him the sponsorship from JRL, and they’re the third-largest clipper company in the world. He’s verified on Insta … and he’s got 48,000 followers, and some famous dudes are following him. It’s crazy.”
David Morse said he hopes to grow the educational component of his work.
“I’d like to create a barber school and do more education and community involvement in schools, and open more shops,” he said, “but definitely the schooling, that’s a big thing, showing kids that college is not always the answer, and that there’s more to life than college after high school.”
“Oneonta Middle School has taken a day and he’s cut the hair of kids that were less fortunate,” Kevin Morse said. “I have friends that come to me with kids who are struggling in school and they see him and his shop and he’s such a good role model for them, for kids that don’t want to be a doctor or a lawyer or something they have to go to college for.”
It’s the hometown connection, David Morse said, that he’s found most fulfilling.
“With it being named after my great-grandfather, having guys that used to get their hair cut by him is a blessing, hearing their stories,” he said. “I never met him, but I’m getting clients giving me pictures of him or news articles about his barbershop or an old cash register and chairs. The community came together for sure about this.”
“I fell in love with this from the start and it keeps me always wanting to do this,” David Morse continued. “It’s really the people, the conversations. I talk to people for a living. I don’t feel like I cut hair for a living — it’s building relationships and the relationships keep me here. It doesn’t even really feel like life sometimes, how good I have it with this job, and I am making people feel amazing. I would never trade that for the world.”
Otello’s welcomes walk-ins and appointments. For more information or to schedule services, visit otellosbarbershop.com or call 607-434-7886.