Frankie & Son Barbershop is a family-owned men's barbershop in Christchurch's Riverside Lanes, at 96 Oxford Terrace. It was started by Stu, who had been managing the Groom Room before venturing out to build his own family business — a space designed to bridge the gap between a hair salon and a traditional barbershop for men.
The business began out of a 4x2 porta-cabin in the middle of Christchurch City, where Stu built up a steady clientele while waiting for a building on Manchester Street to be renovated for a permanent shop. Before that renovation was finished, the opportunity came up to move into Christchurch's new Riverside Lanes instead. The shop is named Frankie & Son after two of the family's children — Frankie, and Son, short for Sonny.
The space itself is designed to stand apart from a typical men's barbershop, with flowers, plants and an emerald and blush pink colour scheme giving it an elegant but still masculine feel. Bookings are made online through Fresha, and the shop can also be reached by phone or email.
Frankie & Son Barbershop, in Christchurch's Riverside Lanes on Oxford Terrace, is a men's barbershop with a family story behind its name and its look.
Before starting Frankie & Son, Stu was managing the Groom Room. Venturing out on his own marked the start of a new journey into self-employment and building a family-owned business. The vision from the start was to create a space bridging the gap between a hair salon and a barbershop for men — elegant, but still masculine.
The business didn't start in a commercial shopfront. Stu built his early clientele out of a 4x2 porter-com (a small portable cabin) dropped in the middle of Christchurch City. He worked out of that space for 12 months, patiently waiting for a building on Manchester Street — earmarked as the site for the new barbershop — to be renovated.
Before that Manchester Street renovation was complete, a different opportunity came along: a spot in Christchurch's new Riverside Lanes. That's where Frankie & Son settled, and where the shop operates from today.
Frankie & Son is named after two of the family's children — Frankie, and Son, short for Sonny. It's a small but personal detail that runs through the whole business, reflecting its roots as a genuinely family-owned shop rather than a franchise or chain.
The look and feel of the shop was designed by the family themselves, and it's a deliberate departure from a typical men's barbershop. Flowers and plants sit throughout the space, paired with an emerald and blush pink colour scheme — a combination chosen to feel welcoming and a little unexpected, while still keeping a masculine edge.
Frankie & Son runs a full range of men's grooming services, from a 30-minute Classic Cut and Skin Fade through to a longer Restyle Haircut or Scissor Cut. For beard work there's a dedicated Beard Trim, and a traditional Hot Shave is also on the menu. For those wanting the full treatment, the Full Service combines services into an appointment of around an hour and fifteen minutes.
One thing to know: Frankie & Son doesn't offer a combined haircut-and-beard-trim package. If you want both, you'll need to book a haircut and a beard trim as two separate services when reserving your appointment.
Appointments at Frankie & Son are booked online through Fresha, with direct booking links available for each individual service. The shop can also be reached directly by phone or by email for anything that falls outside a straightforward online booking.
What comes through clearly from Frankie & Son's own story is that this is a shop built slowly and personally — from a porta-cabin clientele to a permanent home in Riverside Lanes, with a name and a design that both trace back to family. For anyone after a proper barbershop visit in central Christchurch, with a space that doesn't look like every other men's barbershop, Frankie & Son is worth booking ahead for.