Added on February 2, 2026 Sara Swanson

Two new faces join Keith's, a barbershop full of history

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New barber at Keith’s on Main Street, Sally Carter, cuts customer Rocky’s hair. Photo by Sara Swanson.

by Sara Swanson

There are two new faces at Keith’s Barbershop!

Sally Carter is a new fixture here at the Manchester barbershop, located at 152 E Main St, and with more than 38 years of experience as a barber under her belt she is working to build business back up, and she’s brought Donna Harper, whose been in the business as long as she has, with her.

With Reed’s retirement, Carter had been in and out to help for awhile and had gotten to know the customers, but came on full-time before Christmas. Although coverage was sometimes spotty in the past, meaning a wait for the one barber on duty, there are always two barbers working now and waits are minimal.

Carter describes the barbershop as “a friendly shop with old barbershop flair” and explained that she appreciates how nice the customers are and that everyone working together gets along, and that those two things together make for a great environment that she enjoys cutting hair in.

Customers will still see faces they recognize behind the chairs as long-standing members of the Reed barbering team, “AJ,” “Cathy,” and “Terry,” are still hard at work. In fact, Carter and Harper discovered that “Terry” Biegas, who they are working alongside, the first female barber in Manchester, is a wealth of stories and lore about the shop.

Keith Reed, who is turning 86 this year, opened the shop in 1965. Biegas started at Keith’s in 1993 when she had just graduated from barber college. She had heard from a friend that there was a barbershop in Manchester so she drove over and found the shop empty with the door open. She sat in the shop for an hour before Reed came back from the bakery. However, his customers all knew his schedule and so the shop had filled up just before he got back and she ended up waiting another hour to talk to him. And he agreed to give her a chance.

She states that Manchester was not very welcoming to a lady barber at first but Biegas, whose dad was a barber, grew up in a barbershop and wasn’t scared off. She remembers that there were customers who would not let her cut their hair if Reed was in the shop, so when the shop was empty and they saw a customer coming, he’d duck into the bathroom, waiting until she had started the haircut to pop out. She stated that he was a great mentor and set a great example to follow.

Biegas, who has also cut hair all over, agrees that Keith’s is the best place to work and that Manchester is an awesome community. She has been here long enough to cut the hair of three generations of customers, and has had three customers who are over 100 years old. They, she states, have the best stories. She really misses the bakery and remembers that people used to say that in Manchester you can find out everything that is happening at the bakery and the barbershop but that you go to the bakery for the lies and the barbershop for the truth!

Keith’s is open Tuesday through Friday from 7:30am to 5pm and from 7:30am to noon on Saturday. They don’t take appointments, just walk in and take a seat. Everyone working is an experienced haircutter and know the old cuts but also do newer “style cuts.” Carter clarified that if it is a more obscure cut, you may have to show them a photo of it on your phone. Classic cut or style cut, the pricing is the same: $19 for a regular cut and $18 for seniors. Beard trims are $10, or $5 extra on top of a haircut. Kids are welcome.