Talking shop with Young Turks Barbers

Young Turks was established by partners Kristian Francuski and David Weir in 2016. Kristian has made a name for himself as a sought after barber in Perth; he started his career training in classic methods with an old school master, and has since gone on to work in some of Perth’s most notable barbershops.

David is an award-winning architect who runs his practice from what is now the back of the barbershop, after David and Kristian spotted an opportunity to transform a large part of his architecture studio into Young Turks. We recently sat down with them to talk shop and learn more about the ethos behind the brand.

How did you move from the world of architecture, into the world of barbering and why?

DW: I had an established studio in a great location which had a lot of space that wasn’t being utilised. Meanwhile I had gotten an excellent cut from this new barber (Kristian) whom I almost immediately started dating. After some time, and seeing a chance to create something special, we worked together to renovate the space and turn it into the barbershop. Now Kristian runs the shop and I work behind the scenes, splitting my time between YT and my practice, DWA.

How did you come up with the name Young Turks Barbershop?

The term Young Turks has a few meanings and a fair bit of history, but we use it in the way that it references a progressive change to the established order; we wanted to run a barbershop that was different to anything we had seen in the market, and to shake things up a bit. It’s also the title of a pretty decent Rod Stewart track.

What’s your vision for YT?

Currently, we want Young Turks to be the best barbershop in Perth; to create a place, a service and an experience that our clients love and that they want to tell their friends about. When you enter Young Turks we want you to feel welcome, feel relaxed and know that you’re going to get the result you want, and enjoy the process.

What can people expect when they visit your shop?

We only do booked appointments so you know when you arrive you’re not going to wait more than a couple of minutes before you’re in the chair; we think this is very important when our clients have busy days and don’t want to be waiting around. We’ve designed the interior to feel as far from an ‘old school’ barbershop as possible; we figure that’s been done and that a faux style isn’t in keeping with the kind of experience we want to project, so the place is all white with cool blues and greens, design objects and art hanging on the walls. We’ve crammed it full of plants and the back doors are open to our hanging gardens, so it’s breezy and light and has a real outdoors-in kind of feel. Our desire is that YT is a bit of a sanctuary, a relaxing space where the guys and girls who visit can forget their pressures for a time. Also, there are complimentary refreshments, and you can’t go wrong with free beer.

What’s the most important piece of business advice you could give us?

The whole drive behind the way we set Young Turks up was to provide the best possible experience for our clients; we put ourselves in their shoes and asked what would make this the smoothest, most enjoyable experience for them. So we searched out the best possible online booking format, we allowed for online payments, we designed a beautiful and functional space, and we engage with our clients to show them that we value them. We considered the kind of barbershop we would enjoy visiting, and we made it.

What’s your favourite product of ours and why?

KF: The Spruce Up Beard Oil is all about green, fresh scented pine forests which I like, and Cool Cola Shampoo & Conditioner which just smells amazing and whimsical, but isn’t overpowering. Our customers really love the wide range of beard oils and beard balms provided by The Groomed Man Co.. DW: The Charcoal & Bamboo Body Scrub; exquisitely scratchy and it’s pitch black, which is super cool. I love how unique the beard balm is, and love that everything is made in Australia.

I’ve always been a big believer that the customer deserves an experience, and not just a product. Why do you think it’s important for barbers to look outside of the box and offer their customers a full experience from the cut to the product, instead of doing and offering what everyone else offers?

YT is all about giving our clients what we believe is the best experience, and everything we have brought to the shop is with that in mind. This extends to products as well; we stock an extremely limited range of products where other barbers might stock half a dozen or more. From the very beginning we pegged only one hair product range and only one men’s grooming range, and we actively chased them to stock at Young Turks. The Groomed Man Co. products work in perfectly with our ethos and our practice, and our clients froth for them, so we see them as the perfect compliment to what we do. It’s a great feeling for us when we can tell our clients we stock it because we use it and that’s how we know it is excellent product.

What’s next for YT?

We’re a really new shop, only open 7 months, but we always think 3 or 4 moves ahead. Currently we are expanding our staff roster, so Kristian and our other barber Manuel can have a bit of time off, we are continuously adding a new touches to the interior of the shop (the benefit/curse of an architect as an owner) and we are looking to grow the YT experience to give more back to our clients…very exciting!

You can find Young Turks Barber on Instagram or book an appointment on their website! Pop in and enjoy the experience!