This story was originally printed in Volume I of The Massachusetts Golfer, which was published in April 2024. The Massachusetts Golfer is a print publication, first and foremost, which is exclusively available, at no charge, to Mass Golf Members. If you are a member and have not received a mailed copy (note that copies are limited to one per household), please update your address on file. Kindly direct any enquiries to Stephen Hanjack: shanjack@massgolf.org
There’s collective buzz inside Bostonian Barber Shop’s Whitman location on a Friday afternoon as customers stream in to get freshened up ahead of a rare warm winter weekend. Amid playful roasting amongst the barbers, they smile and chat with their clients, all while chiseling away at their work with a sculptor’s precision and focus.
“I’m wearing my visor this weekend, bud,” says Kayla Zaiatz, one of the shop’s master barbers who has been here since day one.
After wrapping up, some sneak in lunch before the next appointment, or rest their feet out back. But their new favorite activity is something you won’t see in your typical barber shop.
Separated by a glass door in the front-right corner of the sleek, open-space shop is a state-of-the-art golf simulator, its soundproof, white brick walls adorned with pin flags from world-famous courses. In this shop, screen time is filled by hitting stock wedges into the 7th at Pebble Beach instead of scrolling.
While high-quality haircuts and beard shaping got Bostonian Barber Shop off the ground, its ongoing mission is to be a “traditional barber shop with a modern twist.” There’s a brass, manual cash register and flat-screen TVs. Straight razors and contemporary electric clippers. Barbers wear black capes while also sporting rope caps with the shop’s logo. And now it has a simulator to complement its folding chairs, brown couch, and wall-length bench.
Upon realizing a simulator wouldn’t be functional in his home basement, owner Erik Zaiatz decided to install one to replace the old Restoration Coffee stand previously occupying the space. It’s not even noon, and already a customer followed up his fade by hitting fades with his new TaylorMade P790 irons; a local golf professional inquired about teaching lessons here; and some customers, especially youngsters, peered through to watch the golf swings, both good and bad.
It enhances the atmosphere of a professional business and a man cave all wrapped in one.
“It’s all authentic because we’re not forcing anything,” said Zaiatz, who launched the shop in the summer of 2014. “I do what I like, and I think people see it as us and our brand, not trying to be something we’re not.”
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This setup is no accident. Growing up, Zaiatz had a front-row seat observing his grandfather Don Botieri, who ran his barber shop for 60 years. Zaiatz marveled at how townspeople opened up and shared their most triumphant and troubling moments. Referred to as “Mr. Hanson,” Botieri cut four generations of hair, and the local baseball field is named after him.
The shop suits the area well. The crossroads of southeast Boston have long been a hub of crafting style for New Englanders and beyond. Brockton alone once housed 39 shoe manufacturing companies, including this brand FootJoy you may have heard of.
Five miles east of “Shoe City” is the friendly town of Whitman, which is also dotted with repurposed factories. Bostonian’s de facto home base is tucked along a commuter rail stop in an inconspicuous two-story brick front unit, its clean black sign with the shop’s name blending well with the iconic T symbol. Adding character is the white marquee underneath, displaying “Book Haircuts Now” caved in like it suffered a devastating left hook courtesy of Brockton’s own “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler.
While Zaiatz spent most of his formative years playing in a band and later managing musical groups on tour, that old-school tang of talc and aftershave from his grandfather’s shop always lingered.
When not traveling, Zaiatz worked the trades, including carpentry, but when his sister Kayla finished barber school, he decided to call up his old bandmate and childhood friend Matt Penardi and start his own shop. He settled in Whitman — in an old shoe factory about two par-5s away from its current location.
“Erik called and said, ‘I’m opening a shop,’” said Penardi, then barbering elsewhere. “I said that’s cool, and he replied, ‘You’re coming.’ We went back and forth on what we wanted the shop to look like, and our lists were close to identical.
“We’ve been grinders our entire lives,” he added. “If you want anything done, we make it happen. Everything is full commitment.”
Turns out offering a mix of traditional and modern cuts and beard trims with precise detail accelerated things to where it only took six months for Penardi to make this his full-time occupation. Their popularity led to a 2016 expansion into a Boston shop located a towering foul ball away from home plate at Fenway Park, and later a third spot in Hanson.
Zaiatz and Penardi haven’t abandoned their traveling days. Still roadies at heart, they understand the struggle of getting a good cut when leapfrogging all over. So they leveraged their connections to work 60 music festivals annually to help performers look their best before showtime. Penardi’s friend group overlapped with the manager of pop group Pentatonix, which has flown him as far as Texas before shows.
Other connections have led them into professional golf, including an annual gig at the PGA Tour’s Barracuda Championship in Truckee, California. Golf is one of Penardi’s newest passions, and unbeknownst to him, he once had the fun-loving, self-deprecating Joel Dahmen in his chair. Upon watching season one of Netflix’s Full Swing, he regretted not getting a picture.
“We kind of stick out like sore thumbs at golf events, because we’re usually the only two people with tattoos,” Zaiatz said, who added they cut for the event’s past two winners: Akshay Bhatia and Chez Reavie.
“They call us the tattoo guys,” Matt added.
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While Zaiatz oversees all the shops, Penardi personifies rhythmic harmony inside the Whitman shop. Fitting, as he played bass guitar.
Similar to how golf benefits one’s mental health, when customers situate themselves in the chair, immediately their shoulders drop and their faces ease. They enjoy having a trusted ear and walk away feeling better than when they entered. While many devoted customers trust only Penardi with their locks — he’s often booked nearly a week in advance — he works hard to make sure his fellow barbers have proper guidance to provide an equally satisfying cut.
“We built a community inside of a barber shop,” Penardi said. “Everybody who comes in feels at home because everybody cares about what they do. Sometimes clients can’t get in with somebody, but I know you’re going to be as confident as you were in my chair when you walk out.”
Penardi oozes competency thanks to his compulsive drive to get the most out of his pursuits. It started with building and fixing up motorcycles. Later it was barber school, where he took apart hundreds of clippers and recrafted them for optimal touch, like discovering the perfect putter grip. His latest obsession is golf clubs, and Penardi’s knowledge is already enough to make a vintage collector blush. His bag features three wedges, four irons, and three fairway woods, all customized.
As another customer eases into Penardi’s chair, he glances up as the ESPN+ broadcast flashes to Australia’s Min Woo Lee. In addition to being a sneakerhead, the barbers admire Lee’s Tiger-esque ability to play his way out of trouble and his social media presence which, “Makes golf look way more approachable and fun.”
“Golf is something you can do forever and never get good at, and that’s the enjoyment,” he says. “There’s always something new you can try, a new course you can play. Now if I have a weird swing thought, I can go in our simulator and adjust it. I should probably take a lesson, but I enjoy figuring things out for myself.”
If you want further proof of Penardi’s mad scientist tendencies, take a walk out back, and you’ll be astonished by the clutter of donated and disassembled golf clubs and bags he has collected. The space doubles as his workroom, and he quickly demonstrates his craftsmanship by installing a ferrule on a 4-iron for one of his barbers.
You can ask for just about any haircut you want at Bostonian — they’ve done mohawks for fans of Italy soccer club AC Roma — and while Penardi will discuss niblicks and mashies for an entire appointment, he reserves club work for colleagues and family.
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Penardi’s presence and aptitude have helped build a roster of barbers fresh out of training. Among them is Luke Lenhart, whose commute matches many of his customers. He drives 50 minutes from his home in Lincoln, Rhode Island, where he was previously working in industrial painting.
With a sporty mustache, tattoos enveloping both arms, and a pair of checkered Vans, he embodies the target demographic of a 2024 version of Warped Tour. Unlike his bosses, however, he doesn’t play an instrument. Instead, he’s an enthusiastic golfer who grew up walking distance from TPC Boston and was among packed galleries jockeying for a spot to watch the likes of Tiger and Phil compete every Labor Day weekend.
While he regrets never joining Norton High’s golf team, which plays on the championship course, Lenhart felt fortunate that within a few years out of barber school, he found a workplace where he could make a living and have some fun simultaneously.
As Bostonian Barber Shop continues to push the limits of its expansion — Zaiatz is launching a shop in San Diego — their brand continues to catch on throughout the region. With an innovative team at the helm, they’ll continue to be leaders in the age-old practice of barbering.
“Most shops, you go in, cut hair, and go home,” Lenhart said. “There’s so much more you get to experience when you come in here. You can’t beat this.”
