The rolling hairdressing salon: Harry and Meghan are also his customers

Four days a week, Ryan Rich with his white Mercedes Sprinter is always the same place in the colorful Abbott Kinney Road by Venice Beach. Everyone there knows him, everyone may come and always residents and tourists to have their hair cut in the wooden transporter lounge. “When the hairdressing salon, in which I was busy, decided to close as a result of the pandemic, I was first unsure what I should do,” Ryan is sitting in his leathered hairdressing chair and folding his hands, “But I didn’t want to hang this job. The bearded 35-year-old, who prefers to wear baseball cap, vans and torn jeans, bought a Mercedes Sprinter for a few thousand dollars and converted it into a rolling barbershop in seven months. The costs: “six digits”, as Ryan emphasizes.

From the outside, nothing points to the wooden lounge with a cozy hairdressing chair. The white sprinter looks like a normal Mercedes van with a high structure and long wheelbase. The ramic protection at the front is no more important in Downtown Venice, but when Ryan Rich drives his friends to fishing in the mountains at the weekend, because he usually takes the big van and not more off -road toyota 4runner.

Stollen tires, sholler and ramic protection are enough to get the desired water. “An all -wheel drive would not be bad,” smiles Ryan, “but mostly it works.” He is self -sufficient on site with his hairdressing mobile, because there is a closed water cycle on board, a electricity generator and large solar panels on the roof that make it independent. What enables the undisturbed fishing trip at the weekend was a central challenge for the operation of the moving hairdressing salon. When Ryan Rich’s idea of ​​cutting the hair in the parking lot in the future, the local approval authorities vehemently shook their heads.

“But when they saw how it works, that I bring all the energy with me and do not pollute anything on site, they finally granted permission. They couldn’t help it,” Ryan recalls in March 2021 when his business started. What started slowly has long since blossomed into an institution in Venice Beach. Four days a week from Wednesday to Saturday, the unusual hairdresser works behind the widely opened sliding door of his van on the Abbott Kinney Road.

“A haircut costs 70, the Barttrimm 40 dollars,” says the former business newcomer, “but more and more customers want me to come to your home. Then it starts at $ 300.” The reason for the home visits may not be surprising in the Los Angeles area. Many don’t want to make the effort to drive to the hairdresser, others do not want to be recognized as celebrities and some do not want to pollute their own apartment with hair at home. It fits perfectly that Ryan Rich, as a Lonely Barber, rolls into his own entrance with the sprinter on Sunday. He also likes to be the supporting program at a big party. This has not changed due to the devastating fires in the north of Los Angeles – on the contrary.

When Ryan opens the large sliding door of the van, you don’t believe to trust your eyes. The van is completely lined with wood, on the back there is a complete vanity with a pool, mirror and shelves for the perfect look. To the right of the door depends on the approval certificate, which shows that Ryan Rich can operate his rolling hairdressing salon under license number 192.

This so -called Vendor Identification must be openly visibly stopped so that customers feel on the safe side that everything has been approved. However, the actual show is the historic hairdressing chair, which could also be in a salon in Chicago or New York in the 1930s. Here, however, it is firmly anchored in the white sprinter in the ground, can be turned in all directions or tilted back so that Ryan can do his work exactly as in an ordinary salon.

So that it does not get too hot even with the LA temperatures, there is skylight and air conditioning. “But mostly the sliding door simply stays up,” explains Ryan, “I actually never need the generator in the back of the rear box. The photovoltaic system on the roof is enough for the stream of computer, hairdryer or razor.” As casually, Ryan lets a few celebrity photos slip on his own smartphone.

Even the renegade Meghan and Harry from the British royal family belong to his customers, plus a few asterisks and stars in the music or film industry. His order books are full, with most customers bring him from cities such as Santa Monica, Palisades, Malibu, Beverly or his place of residence in Calabas – at least that takes three hours. While there are a maximum of three customers a day in the hairy home game, Ryan creates up to 14 customers a day as a one-man show in Venice. The appointments are booked on your own website.

Ryan Rich loves his Mercedes Sprinter and the gigantic “Mileage” of the four-cylinder diesel, which rattles under the bonnet. But the new Mercedes Sprinter is pondering it – because it can also be obtained with an electric drive in the USA for the first time. That would also be something for customers on the Abbey Kinney Road from Venice Beach or the celebrities from Beverly Hills or Calabas.