Brown's Barber Shop
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Specializing in Men's and boys haircuts, we offer many styles, all fades, flat tops, military cuts, and we will even cut women's hair too!
Ford Brown opened Brown's Barber Shop on November 29th, 1920, in the Village of Mecosta, and in 1927 moved it to another location in Mecosta. In 1924, Ford moved the barber shop to Big Rapids and located it under the old Citizens State Bank at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Maple Street. It was known as Brown's Barber Shop. In 1946 Doyle Brown joined his father. In 1960 Doyle Brown built the present Brown's Barber Shop at 216 South Michigan Ave in downtown Big Rapids across from the Big Rapids Theatre (now Big Rapids Cinema). The building was constructed as a duplex, and Doyle's wife Esther opened a party store with fine wines and specialty foods in the north half of the building, while barber shop was established in the south half. There were four barbers, including: Doyle (owner) working full time, and Ford Brown (who at this time was semi-retired) worked on Saturdays, which was the busiest day. In September '61, at the age of 19, Mike joined Doyle at Brown's Barber Shop and started a 50 year career serving Big Rapids and surrounding area. Ford Brown retired and spent many winters in Florida with his wife Ethel, and died at the age of 86 in Big Rapids. When Doyle retired, Mike and his wife Joanne purchased the Barber Shop from him. Terry Arnold began working at the barber shop with Mike in 1968. Mike and Terry ran the shop by themselves until hiring Sue Milton around 2001. Mike celebrated his 50th anniversary of barbering at Brown's Barber Shop in September 2011, and the Brown family celebrated 96 successful years in the barbering business in the county. It is one of the oldest family businesses in Mecosta County and they are proud to have spent the majority of that 96 years in downtown Big Rapids. Mike retired Oct. 1st 2011, and sold the building and barber shop to Marc Conley, who also owns Quinn's Music (right next door). The shop will continue to operate as Brown's Barber Shop to maintain the long standing tradition and reputation.
Google has our hours for Saturday all messed up. For 2 weeks it showed we are closed on Saturday. I got that corrected. Now it says we open at 9am..that is incorrect. We still open at 8am. I’m still trying to get Google to fix it.
06/13/2026
Summer is going way too fast!
With our 4th of July Holiday approaching fast, we better get our hours posted!
We will be closed on July 3rd & July 4th. Be safe, drive safe, and have an amazing weekend.
04/26/2026
It is with heavy hearts that we want to share that our beloved Terry Arnold has been sent home to his Lord & Savior. Terry worked at Brown’s for 47 years serving customers from around the area. Mike & Terry are what made Brown’s Barbershop what it is today. Sue, Mike, Luke & myself are extremely thankful to be able to carry on the tradition they built. We hope we make you guys proud. We want to extend our deepest condolences to Terry’ s wife Nancy, his children, and grandchildren. Thank you Terry for all the stories, the encouragement, and teaching us how to do the best flat tops! Rest in Heaven.
Terry Franklin Arnold Obituary April 22, 2026 - Crandell Funeral Homes View Terry Franklin Arnold's obituary, send flowers, find service dates, and sign the guestbook.
04/21/2026
This is how we know Spring is officially here. All the jackets & sweatshirts left on the coat rack. The hats we consider as compliments. 🤣
If you recognize any of these please reach out! Anything that is left we will take to donation.
12/20/2025
Congratulations boys! Another National Championship brought to Ferris State University. You all make this community very proud!
12/04/2025
21 more days till CHRISTMAS! This post is for all you procrastinators, don’t wait till the 22nd to get your haircut! But if you do, don’t worry…we have you covered!
We hope you have amazing Holidays with friends and family.
We will be closed the following days for the holidays
Wednesday December 24th
Thursday December 25th
Friday December 26th
Saturday December 27th
Wednesday December 31st
January 1st
12/02/2025
We are looking for some recommendations on getting our chairs refurbished/restored. If anyone has any suggestions or recommendations please reach out, we’d really love to save these chairs.
From all of us here at Browns Barbershop we want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you have a wonderful day with your friends and family.
There was a woman’s wallet left in the barbershop lobby last Friday, we believe it belongs to a little girl. If you are missing it please call us to identify.
11/14/2025
We would like to wish the Big Rapids Cardinals football team and the Reed City Coyotes football team good luck tonight in their regional playoff games!!
We have many players from both teams as customers and we are very proud of you all!
Keep it going boys!
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Address
216 S Michigan Avenue
Big Rapids, MI
49307
Opening Hours
| Monday | 8am - 5:30pm |
| Tuesday | 8am - 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 8am - 5:30pm |
| Friday | 8am - 5:30pm |
| Saturday | 8am - 1pm |