Almost a year after 'devastating' blaze, Ezio still misses downtown

Ezio Metallo’s barbershop business is back on track, after an unfortunate fire burned down his previous building earlier this year. 

Metallo — owner of Ezio’s Hair Designs — has relocated his shop to 143 Great Northern Road, across from CAA. 

Since opening up the new location on March 22, Metallo says that business overall is doing pretty well. 

“I was expecting a little more, with it being a new shop and all, but overall it’s okay,” Metallo said. 

Metallo still finds it difficult to talk about the incident. 

“It was devastating. I got to the shop and saw the fire, and I didn’t know what to think at first. A lot of stuff was going through my mind,” Metallo said. "It was so sad. Not a good feeling.”

Despite this, he managed to start rebuilding right away. 

“I was very fortunate for the help of the community. It gave me a big boost so that I could rebuild my business again,” Metallo said with gratitude, referring to the GoFundMe page that was started shortly after the fire. Over $16,000 was raised by community members to help Metallo get back on his feet. 

Metallo first got into barbering as a child in Italy, then emigrated to Sault Ste. Marie in 1980. His first job in Canada was at a barbershop at the old Kmart plaza.

“In 2003, I started the barbershop on Queen Street and I was there for 16 years, until the fire happened,” Metallo said. 

“I miss the old place though,” Metallo told SooToday. “I miss being downtown. It was a nice feeling, being there. Although the new spot is probably better for business, downtown was a nice place to be.”

For Metallo, being a barber is his passion, and something he hopes he will be doing for the rest of his life. 

“I still enjoy it very much. Hopefully I can do this for many, many years,” He said.

When we last spoke to Metallo, there were two available chairs at his shop. He has since been able to rent out one of the spots to another barber.

There is still no knowledge of what caused the January 31 fire. It is said to have come from the building next door to the shop, but no exact cause has been found.