St. Olaf to celebrate grand opening of The Shop 1500
The Shop 1500, St. Olaf College’s new on-campus barbershop, will celebrate its grand opening on Friday, October 4.
Founded by Aidan Lloyd ’24 and Giovanni Green ’23 in 2021 as a pop-up barbershop service on campus, The Shop 1500 opened the doors this fall to its new permanent space located in Buntrock Commons 112, across the hall from the Taylor Center for Equity and Inclusion. The shop provides haircuts, braiding, and styling services for all students as well as faculty and staff, especially meeting the needs of Oles with Black or textured hair. Just as importantly, it provides a space for connection and conversation.
The grand opening will begin with a reception at 4 p.m. in the Buntrock Commons Crossroads featuring music by the St. Olaf Jazz Combo. Programming will then begin at 4:30 p.m. and will feature remarks by St. Olaf President Susan Rundell Singer, CROWN documentary producer Sarah Kazadi-Ndoye, and Lloyd and Green.
The speakers at the grand opening all played a role in elevating awareness for the need for The Shop 1500 on campus and supported its implementation.
Kazadi-Ndoye is a CBS producer who worked on creating the CROWN documentary, which details the history of Black hair in America and the role that sports and athletes have played in that history. The documentary also features the CROWN Act, which outlaws hair-based discrimination in Minnesota, and its progress being passed as a law by other states. Kazadi-Ndoye connected with St. Olaf athletes Green and Lloyd and brought her crew to St. Olaf to view the pop-up barbershop. At the grand opening for the new permanent space, Kazadi-Ndoye plans to speak about the CROWN documentary process, the impact of a place like The Shop 1500 at St. Olaf, and her own experience as a Black woman.
Green and Lloyd were both instrumental in the creation of a barbershop on campus. Through their work in Oles Against Inequality (OAI), they originally helped launch a pop-up barbershop on campus for students with haircare needs not available in Northfield. This led to them meeting Kazadi-Ndoye and their inclusion in CROWN.
Plans for The Shop 1500 were designed by LSE Architects, the largest Black-owned architecture and interior design firm in the upper Midwest. Architects there worked closely with Lloyd on his vision and design, and introduced him to Houston White, a Minneapolis-based entrepreneur, community leader, author, and designer whose work focuses on creating a more intercultural world.
Following the grand opening of The Shop 1500, student managers are ready to get to work providing services to the campus community. The Shop 1500 will be led by student managers Maroova Elkemary ’26 and Jerome Covington ‘25. Together they will oversee the shop’s scheduling and promotions, care for the physical space, and manage the relationship between the barbers and St. Olaf.
The Shop 1500 will be open daily from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Hair care services will be offered from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Mondays and Tuesdays, and the space will be open and available for students to hang out in outside of the service hours.
Elkemary says she’s looking forward to leading the barbershop through its inaugural year on campus. “It’s a great initiative, first of its kind, and I’m very excited to see what it will lead to,” she says. “St. Olaf is trying its best to have diverse initiatives.”
She is especially eager to create a shop where students come to hang out, talk, listen to music, and enjoy the space.
Covington agrees, noting that The Shop 1500 is essential for St. Olaf as it moves into the future. “The campus is continuing to get more diverse, and it’s important to be inclusive to all incoming students,” he says.
Covington used the pop-up barbershop when that was the main hair care option for BIPOC students at St. Olaf. He believes the convenience of The Shop 1500, along with the quality of the barbers and stylists hired, will bring a different energy to campus for BIPOC students. Having a permanent space for the shop also demonstrates a commitment to inclusion for all students. “I’m recognized, and I don’t have to be someone else coming to Northfield, Minnesota,” he says.
Covington says in addition to barbers, the shop will have braiders and stylists to provide hair care for a wide range of students. “This is a place for community, and we want to take advantage of this space,” he says.