As the world grows smaller, and people of all ethnicities live in the same neighborhoods and get exposed to other cultures, businesses too are adapting to diversified communities.
This is certainly happening in Athens, where some local businesses have recently begun to broaden their services to meet the demands of the various ethnic groups who live here.
The Chop Shop, founded in 2008, is a barbershop located next to the Athena Cinema on South Court Street. Vincent Reeder, who helped found the shop, said it started not only so college students in need of a haircut could be served by younger barbers familiar with newer styles, but also so minorities, particularly blacks, could receive a haircut suitable for their hair types.
"We saw a niche down here to be filled. We saw a demand for it," Reeder explained.
He said that prior to The Chop Shop's existence, black residents of Athens "either went to Columbus or they went to their hometown" for a haircut, "or you had to be lucky to find someone (who could cut your hair) in your dorm."
Reeder said each ethnicity has a unique type of hair. For example, he said, black people's hair is thick and curly, while Caucasian and Asian hair is finer.
However, the assumption that The Chop Shop is a "black barbershop" is a misconception, Reeder said. He pointed out that the owner of the barbershop, Mike Carson, and the head barber, Isaiah Dupler, are both white.
The shop is also making an ongoing effort to broaden its clientele.
"We had to do a lot of strategizing," Reeder said. "We really had to make sure we had a black barber and a white barber, and that barbers could cut both black and white people's hair. Most of the time it's Isaiah cutting black people's hair, and the black barber is cutting white people's hair."
Reggie England, a barber, said, "It's a stereotype: 'Black people come here, so it's a "black barbershop.'"
Christian Nkemnkia, a regular customer at The Chop Shop, moved to Athens from Cameroon last July. Dupler is his barber.
"Most barbers don't know how to cut the hair of black guys and white guys, but he does both… It was impressive," Nkemnkia said. "I was expecting a barber who was black so I was kind of surprised that he could do it."
England explained that barbershops historically were gathering places where families bonded over shared principles and discussed politics, sports and other common interests.
In this respect, he said, "We're not really a diverse type of business. This is a place where all cultures can go to share something in common. It's not a race thing. It's about getting a haircut."
The Chop Shop's efforts to rid itself of the "black barbershop" stigma seem to be paying off. It was Ohio University freshman Ryan Miller's first time at the barbershop last Tuesday. Asked if he, as a white man, felt any trepidation going to a so-called "black barbershop," Miller – apparently surprised by the question – responded that he hadn't know that the shop had this image.
Reeder said, "I think [the success of The Chop Shop] is an indicator of Athens expanding and getting more diverse, because as you get more diverse you need different things that cater to different people."
Other businesses in Athens are reaching out to community members of other ethnicities as well. A few stores away from The Chop Shop, the uptown branch of CVS pharmacy put Chinese-language signs in its display window last September, carrying instructions such as, "Please leave your bookbag by the door. Thank you!" or explaining the services and products available in the store.
Wendy Rong, the CVS employee who was inspired to create the signs, moved to the United States five years ago from China.
"There's so many Chinese here, and they have so many general questions about the store," Rong said. "You see a sign in your language, and you feel accepted."
Rong said she hopes to place more Chinese signs throughout the store, along with pictures to explain the various services offered by CVS, such as its pharmacy and photo center.
In a similar spirit, Avalanche
Pizza, located on East State Street, is launching a Chinese version of its
website to try to make Chinese students and community members feel more
comfortable in Athens.
John Gutekanst,
owner, said he empathizes with those who are new to the America and Athens.
"I've spent five years in different countries, and I know how it feels," he said. "I know how scary it is to be in a rural town and to order a pizza."
The Chinese website, which will be launched within the next four months, will include a Chinese menu, demystifying pizza ingredients and toppings uncommon in China, (artichokes, for example), as well as teaching customers how to order a pizza.
Gutekanst said he has a "no-nonsense policy" about mocking people for their language skills.
"It's funny," he added. "We have more problems with Americans ordering (than we do with foreigners)."
Though the website will be a new service for Avalanche, the shop's eccentric selection of toppings has always helped it reach out to people of all ethnicities. Gutekanst said Indians tend to enjoy toppings such as cashews, fresh spinach, jalapeños and red peppers, while Japanese people seem to prefer mayonnaise. Other ethnic pizzas, like "Crouching Kimchi, Hidden Chicken," also appeal to certain ethnic groups.
"The more stuff we delve into, the more people come to us," Gutekanst said.
Gutekanst said that, contrary to what somenmay believe, it is the duty of fluent English-speakers to make foreigners feel more comfortable in the U.S.
"I think they should make it a law that every American should go overseas without a translator and see what that looks like," he said.
Gutekanst is also applying this philosophy to his children, whom he wants to be "wordly, and spend time abroad with linguists." His kids are taking Chinese lessons from the Shuqi Chinese Language and Culture Center.
Shuqi Chen, the teacher, moved from China to Athens in 1999, and began teaching Chinese from her home in 2001 due to the demand of Chinese parents who wanted to make sure their American-born Chinese, or "ABC" children in Athens learned Chinese.
"I had no idea that I was going to teach Chinese," Chen said. "(A Chinese friend) called me and said that she and her friends had a few kids who wanted to learn Chinese and asked me if I wanted to teach. I said, 'No, I can't; I can barely speak English!' I had just moved from China, you see. She replied, 'Why can't you teach? All our kids understand Chinese.'"
Chen, who majored in Chinese at the Liaoning Normal University in China, had some teaching experience with adults in China. Before agreeing to teach Chinese to children in Athens, she first attended a few classes at a Chinese school in Columbus, Ohio.
"I realized that I probably could teach," Chen said. "I like Chinese, and I like children."
Her original class of three or four students, all of them ABCs, has since grown to about 19 students, most of whom are American or predominant English-speakers.
Chen said that while Chinese parents want their children to learn Chinese because, "It's their mother tongue – they should never forget it," Americans want to learn Chinese because of China's rapid economic growth.
"Finding a job is hard now," she pointed out. "With Chinese language skills, finding a job will be an easier task."
Chen's oldest student is a junior in high school, while her youngest student is five years old. Some of her students have studied with her for several years. Through experience, Chen has realized that ABCs, whose aural and oral skills are usually fluent, and predominant English-speakers must be taught differently.
"With Chinese students I focus on writing and reading. With Americans I focus on oral and aural Chinese," Chen said.
Based on their schedules, students take classes anywhere from one to five days a week. Because Chen stresses the importance of daily practice of Chinese, she usually allows parents to learn alongside their children for free so that they can practice together outside of class.
Chen said she and her students' families have formed a tight community.
"I'm really grateful because the parents will carpool after school to and from Chinese class, even if someone's house is slightly out of the way (or if parents or children's work and extracurricular activity schedules are different)," she said. "The parents still carpool, and say, 'No problem.' I think they're being supportive of me. We have a really good relationship. We're a community; we're all friends."
Chen said of her students, "I'm really happy because my kids, when they get to college, they'll be good students, but they'll also feel some affection towards China. That makes me happy."
