907 Queen St. West

416.703.8602

Garrison’s By The Park probably has the best view of any barber shop in the city. Most barber shops look out on a stretch of retail streetscape or the hallways of a mall or hotel lobby, but this new entrant to the field has front windows that frame the southeast corner of Trinity-Bellwoods Park, and its smaller back window looks out at the red and cream brick of Farr House and the condo complex that wraps around it. The space was co-owner Doug Stewart’s home for a couple of years, and last year he and his wife Hollis Hopkins had the bright idea of turning it into probably the city’s most relaxing barber shop.

They began work last November, having convinced barbers Sydney Woods – Doug’s regular hair-cutter – and Alan Brown to go in with them. The result is a bright space that, despite the opening up that Victorian spaces need in this day and age, retains the building’s vintage feel. An antique city map covers much of one wall, along with a display of photos of the area from the city archives, while Stewart and Hopkins have set up little displays of retro men’s accessories by the park-framing windows.