Two hundred cuts a week

Sal’s Patchogue Barber Shop is a piece of history, under the same ownership
on East Main Street in East Patchogue since 1980.

Sal Bademci, 64, opened his first barber shop one year prior, in 1979, in Manhattan. After selling the location later that year, Bademci began searching for a storefront on Long Island. He opened Sal’s Patchogue Barber Shop at 295 East Main Street on Aug. 9, 1980.

“In 1980, I didn’t know Patchogue too much. Patchogue is a beautiful [village],” said Bademci, who has lived in Patchogue for 45 years. “People from New York City come to vacation in Patchogue. Believe it or not, it looked like Manhattan... that many people walking outside.”

Three barbers worked at the shop for more than 30 years.

“The last three, four, five years... I can’t find anybody. I have worked all by
myself,” Bademci said, who works six days a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Bademci expressed how important his business is to him.

“No sick days, No tired days... None of that kind of thing,” he said. “Sometimes
I eat my lunch; sometimes I don’t have time to eat it.”

Bademci’s customer base is thriving, and it always has. On good weeks, he has
200 customers come in for haircuts. He explained the flood of regular customers contacting him and entering his store for haircuts once the mandates reopened businesses, including barber shops.

“When I reopened, believe it or not, everyone came back. I didn’t lose even
one person,” Bademci said. “I have a lot of loyal customers.”

Over the 40 years at the location, Bademci mentioned cutting the hair of
notable figures in the community, including former state Sen. Brian Foley and
former mayor of Bellport Frank Trotta II. Also, The Long Island Advance’s publisher Terry Tuthill is a regular at Sal’s Patchogue Barber Shop.

“I have great, great customers. I love my customers. I treat my customers like
my family. Customers treat me like family, too,” said Bademci, who grew up in Turkey, near Istanbul, and moved to New York City in 1970.

Bademci expressed his two top priorities are his business and his family. He married in 1991, has three adult children, and one grandchild.