“We never meet a stranger,” said Yvonne Hendrix, a barber at N.C. Central University’s barbershop.

“Have you ever seen the movie ‘Barbershop’? They could have filmed it right here.”

The barbershop, nestled on the lower level of the Alfonso Elder Student Union across from the Eagle’s Nest, has been in business for 54 years.

“The Shop,” as it is often called by its regulars, opened in Chidley Hall in 1953.

Its founder, Walter General Hart, died in 2004, but Dula says Hart’s vision lives on.

“He was a very funny man,” said Ken Dula, a long-time barber.

“I would sometimes have to leave to catch my breath when he was in here cracking jokes.”

The smell of Dial soap and Barbicide swamp the nostrils.

The mirrors sport family photos and the walls are covered with paintings, poetry and Eagle memorabilia. Of course, there’s a magazine stand.

And there are the barbers themselves. They’ve got smiles ready to fix any frustration your day may have brought upon you.

Students say they enjoy going to the shop as much as the employees say they enjoy being there.

“They are so funny,” said Andre Blandon, a theatre junior.

“I have dreads but I go in there for an occasional shape-up. Every time I leave laughing.”

It’s family in the shop: barbers “Ms. Yvonne” Hendrix and Ken Dula are cousins, but they act more like siblings.

Ms. Yvonne Hendrix, a welcoming face in NCCU's barbershop. (Photo: Kai Christopher/Echo Staff Photographer)

The duo banter constantly and provide better entertainment than the TV hanging on the wall.

“You know the man who sat three seats down from the Lord on the left at the Last Supper? That was him,” said Hendrix.

Dula doubles over laughing.

Hendrix , a barber at the shop since 1969, takes pride in the relaxed atmosphere they’ve created at the shop.

“People come in and talk out their problems. We are like therapy,” said Hendrix.

Hendrix is the only female barber who has ever worked at the shop.

“This is my kingdom,” she said. “I started ruling it the first day I walked in.”

In her free time Hendrix likes to write and draw.

She has a novel in NCCU’s library: “Love Face to Face.”

It’s about a girl who falls in love with a man who has the same personality she has.

“The question I raised was this: ‘Can someone really love the person they are?’”

Hendrix said the shop serves 50 to 75 customers each week, but more during Homecoming.

“Alumni come in just to see us and get their hair cut.”

He says students haven’t changed much over the years.

“They still love us the same.”

Dula started cutting hair in Chidley Hall in 1966, but two years later he was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War.

He says Hendrix wrote a poem about his experience in Vietnam called “The Darkest Side of Night.”

“She was able to capture every emotion I felt while I was there,” he says.

“She’s really amazing, but to her face I call her crazy.”

Dula says he does it all in the shop: “cut, sing and anything else under the sun that needs to be done.”

“Other colleges,” he says, “just haven’t been able to capture what we have. I’m not quite sure what that is — maybe we’re just blessed.”

The shop is open from 8 a.m. to about 6:45 p.m.

Haircuts start at $9. Razor line shape-ups are $5. Braids start at $20.

The personalities and atmosphere are free.