Mark
Lightfoot.
Born and raised in Germantown. Opened Philadelphia Hair Company at 5805 Germantown Avenue in 1990 — and has stood behind a chair on this block ever since.
A Germantown
Story.
Mark first picked up clippers as a teenager, cutting hair in his grandparents' basement. By 1984 he was working in his first barbershop. He was twenty when he decided he was done working for somebody else.
"Working for somebody else is not fun. I was supposed to be an entrepreneur."
In 1990 he opened Philadelphia Hair Company at 5805 Germantown Avenue. His mother, Earlene, left her job as an assistant banker to help him run it. His son, Mark Jr., grew up in the apartment above the shop and now works the chair next to his father.
Over three decades the shop has been called "the celebrity barbershop" — Denzel Washington, Will Smith, and Philadelphia Eagles players have all sat in the chair — but Mark has always kept it a neighborhood place first. No cursing. No fighting. Gospel on the speakers, scripture on the walls, and a line out the door of Germantown regulars.
Three decades, one block.
- 1984
Begins working at his first barbershop as a teenager.
- 1990
Opens Philadelphia Hair Company at 5805 Germantown Avenue at age 20.
- 1990s
Builds a reputation that earns the shop the nickname 'the celebrity barbershop.'
- 2010s
Launches the annual 'Fades for Grades' free back-to-school cut event for neighborhood kids.
- Today
Three generations of Lightfoots in the shop, including his son Mark Jr.
Fades for Grades.
Every August, the shop opens its doors for the annual back-to-school free haircut event on Germantown Avenue. Lines form on the sidewalk before 9 a.m. and more than a hundred kids leave with a fresh cut ready for the first day of school — covered, every year, by Mark and his barbers.
In the
Press
Three decades of coverage from Philadelphia outlets.
At one Germantown barbershop, haircuts are not the only draw
"I'd say this is the premiere barbershop in Philadelphia as a whole."
Read article →Philadelphia NeighborhoodsGermantown: Barber Mark Lightfoot Keeps It All In the Family
"Philadelphia Hair Co. opened in 1990 and has become a pillar in the community and beyond."
Read article →WHYYMore than 100 kids get free back-to-school haircuts at annual Germantown Avenue event
"The barbers and stylists at Philadelphia Hair Company weren't scheduled to start giving free back-to-school haircuts until 10 a.m., but nearly an hour earlier, a line had already formed."
Read article →CBS PhiladelphiaKids Get Free Back-To-School Haircuts At Annual 'Fades For Grades' Event
"An annual back-to-school tradition on Germantown Avenue — free fades for the neighborhood's kids."
Read article →"How could you stay open for over thirty years if the community didn't allow it?"
— Earlene LightfootBook a Chair with the Team