After 64 years, this small-town barber shop is closing. COVID-19 is partly to blame.

After Clay Tankersley graduated high school in 1956, he assumed he would go to work on his father’s farm. But he was convinced by friend Gene Brandenburg to attend barber college, and in November of that year he opened up Clay’s Barber Shop in Wilmore.

“I started barber college in Louisville in June,” Tankersley said. “I got out the first day of November and started here the second day of November.”

This week, after 64 years of business, Tankersley is closing down.

For 20 years, Tankersley worked alongside Brandenburg in the barber shop. Back then Wilmore was very different, Tankersley said. People shopped locally and the shop was always busy.

“Back then, a person didn’t think anything about jumping in a car and going to Lexington,” Tankersley said. “Now, you can jump in your car and go three times a day if you want to.”

When Tankersley got out of school, the first Saturday he spent cutting hair he gave some flat tops, which almost made him want to stop being a barber. Even so, he stuck with it.

“You can’t hardly find a barber anymore,” Tankersley said. “You find the stylist shops and everything, but it’s hard to find a barber.”

Tankersley said his niece owns the building where his barber shop is located, and said she asked him if he could just go to a barber college and find a new person to take over the business. However, Tankersley said that is not easily done.

“You just can’t go out and start a barber shop right out of barber school,” Tankersley said. “A boy coming out of barber college has to work a year under a master barber.”

Part of the reason for the closure is due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On March 18, Gov. Andy Beshear ordered all barbershops closed. Even though barber shops reopened on May 25, Tankersley said business has been slow.

“It hadn’t picked back up to where it was at before,” Tankersley said. “People are not getting out as much as they were.”

Another reason is his family. Tankersley, 83, wants to spend more time with his wife Jackie, who is 82. Tankersley said his wife is not in good health, and said she feels better when he is at home. Because of this, he does not plan on doing much traveling once he leaves the shop.

“I just want to spend more time with her and get laid back just for a little bit,” Tankersley said. “There’s things right here in the United States I would like to visit and have more time to see, but as for going overseas or anything like that, I have no desire for that at all.”

To honor his years of service to Wilmore, the city council is organizing a celebration for the night of Monday, July 6. Harold Rainwater, mayor of Wilmore, said he went to Tankersley’s barber shop as a child and even played in a bowling league with Tankersley.

“He’s been quite a stable downtown person to have here,” Rainwater said. “We’re going to miss him.”

In addition to the event on Monday, Tankersley will be named grand marshal of Wilmore’s Fourth of July parade.

Tankersley said he was asked once why he chose to leave barber college and come back to Wilmore to start the business, when he could have gone to Lexington and made more money. Tankersley said he returned because he loves Wilmore.

“Being satisfied in your own mind means a lot,” Tankersley said. “No matter what kind of job you’ve got there’s times you wish you were doing something else. For the most part, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve done here.”

This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 2:38 PM.