Masson Street passes through a relatively tranquil area in the northwestern pocket of the Plateau, and Chez Ménick is its beating heart. Its red, white, and blue barbershop is a warm invite, a storefront mirroring the eccentric character behind its mononymous namesake: Dominique Perrazino, known by one and all as Ménick, is a multigenerational icon.

Ménick bears his heart on his sleeve and his legacy on his walls. His aura, achievements, friendships, and different memorabilia coat the surroundings: Pictures of a younger Ménick shaking hands with the likes of Hulk Hogan, Chuck Norris, Muhhammad Ali, and practically half of the hockey world all watch over clients, who lose track of time as they wait for their appointments, all deep in discussion.

A veteran barber

The son of Sicilian immigrants, Perrazino started cutting hair at 14. He rented the side of the space he works in back when he was 18 years old, having managed to gather enough money to rent out the space. After 10 years he bought the building, expanded, remodelled the floor tiles to look like a hockey rink and—according to him—that’s what boosted his foot traffic.

"That was in ‘69, the year the Beatles were all growing their hair out. I was getting a little worried, but I got through it," he says. "There were tons of shops that closed because they didn’t have the passion to wait out the trend, and people were giving them less business since they weren’t cutting their hair as often. But I stayed afloat. I was lucky because nobody had anywhere to go, so they came here."

The veteran barber will be turning 85 this month, still in the shop at 7:30 a.m. every morning. He’s been keeping it running for the past 66 years, and to him, success in his business is synonymous with loving what you do.

"I don’t feel like I’m working. Coming here early in the morning is very important to me. If I didn’t come in to work everyday, I would be lost."

Anything and everything sports is here—plus haircuts.

"There’s always action."

The barber's served families lineages spanning up to three or four generations, and proud of it: Ménick understands that work doesn’t have to be hedonistic to be successful, and that there's a responsibility to uphold.

"If you’re not here, it’s a sure thing that your client won't come back, (especially) if you’re not interested in serving them," he says. "You have to show them that you appreciate them. You don’t ask them to become a regular when you’re not there regularly yourself."

Ménick always turned down the idea of opening franchises and concessions if it came at the cost of not being present for his clients. To him, his space is a point of reunion for people to converse, hang, and network in classic barbershop fashion.

“(The ice hockey coach) Michel Bergeron, (broadcaster) Rodger Brulotte, they’ve been coming here for 50 years. I’m friends with all my clients. We’re all friends. Guy Lafleur would talk with clients, he would pose for pictures, and sign autographs.”

Many of his connections were also made outside of the shop as well: Ménick was the public relations manager for the Laval National and the Verdun Junior Canadiens in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League for 11 years. That’s why he became a great friend of former ice hockey centre Pat Lafontaine, hockey player Mike Bossy, and Guy Lafleur. He still sports the championship rings that the Junior Canadiens won in 1984 and 1989.

“It comes from working. It didn’t come served to me on a platter. You have to reach out to (clients) and become friends with them, then they say ‘I’ll go to Ménick’s’. Then, it’s a space to make contacts. There’s always action.”

Ménick's aura, achievements, friendships, and different memorabilia coat the walls. Among them, Chuck Norris and André the Giant, plus a visit from the Stanley Cup.

New angles

Ménick would dip his toes into other sporting communities by attending boxing and wrestling events. He also hosted a TV talk show titled “Ménick Reçoit”, featured in plays, and had a newspaper column.

Most recently, Ménick appeared in the newly released Netflix documentary Who Killed the Montreal Expos? which studied the unwarranted and deceiving sale of Montreal’s former Major League Baseball team.

Familiar with the Expos community, Mr. Ménick has received the likes of legendary players Gary Carter and Ron Hunt, analyst Duke Snider, announcer Richard Morency, and former Expos owner Claude Brochu in his shop. To him, as he expressed in the documentary, the blame for the team’s sale was simple, yet nuanced.

“I think it’s about money, and they also say it’s about money in the documentary. Jeffery Loria and them bought it and sold it. It’s up to [supporters] to buy it. It was the same thing in Quebec, with the Nordiques,” he says.

“You saw that the Expos were winning, nobody was attending in their last year of their running. Regardless of whether or not people are saying it was a fire sale, they had no choice but to sell. They blamed Claude Brochu but they would’ve blamed whoever was sitting in his seat. If one of my employees did a bad cut on a client, who’s responsible? Me! Not the employee.”

Having lived a full life comprising thousands of stories, Ménick will soon be starring in a documentary about his daily life. Jean-Michel Dufaux will direct it, inheriting the family legacy of his father, Georges Dufaux.

They start shooting in early November.

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Jeremy Cox

Serving legends and locals, Chez Ménick is our unofficial sports hall of fame