Ali Barbers Wanaka CBD is a walk-in barber shop at Shop 3, Pembroke Lane, 21 Dunmore Street, in the heart of the town centre. No booking needed — you step in, take a seat, and leave feeling confident and refreshed, whether you're after a classic cut, a trendy trim or a beard grooming session.
The shop's story goes back to 1973, when Alistair Howison (aka Ali Baba) moved to Wanaka and began barbering part-time from his home — and, on Tuesdays, from the local pub. The single-chair business Peter Wells joined in 2003 and bought in 2004 has since grown to four full-time chairs, and was renamed Ali Barbers in late 2017 to honour Ali's contribution while making clear exactly what the shop offers.
Today the experienced team serves everyone from long-time locals to weekend visitors, kids included. The CBD shop runs on walk-ins only, open Tuesday to Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 9am-2pm; the group's Three Parks (Wanaka) and Dunedin locations take online bookings.
Down a short lane in the middle of Wanaka, behind the storefronts of Pembroke Mall, you'll find one of the town's longest-running small businesses. Ali Barbers Wanaka CBD, at Shop 3, Pembroke Lane, 21 Dunmore Street, is a walk-in barber shop in the old sense: no booking, no fuss — you step in, take a seat, and leave looking sharper than when you arrived. Hours are Tuesday to Friday, 9am to 6pm, and Saturday, 9am to 2pm, with the shop closed on Sundays and Mondays.
The shop's story begins with Alistair Howison — known around town as Ali Baba — who moved from Dunedin to Wanaka in 1973. Barbering wasn't yet a full-time trade: he drove trucks part-time for Upper Clutha Transport, tried his hand at gold mining in the Cardrona Valley, and cut hair from his home on the side. On Tuesdays he could be found at the local pub, scissors in hand, offering gents a cut while they enjoyed their beverage of choice. After a couple of early shifts between premises, AliBaba's settled on Brownston Street, where it ran as a single-chair barber shop operation.
Everything changed in 2003, when Peter Wells walked through the door. Pete had come to Wanaka for a ski season after an apple-picking season in Nelson, having spent six years hairdressing in Tauranga. It was May, work was scarce, and after two days of door-knocking and rejections he needed a job by week's end or he'd have to leave town. A salon couldn't take him on for another month. Then he noticed the barber shop a couple of doors down. "One man band is it?" he asked. Ali, who was partially deaf, offered him a haircut instead. The exchange that followed ended with a CV handed over and a blunt verdict: "OK, you can start tomorrow."
The next day Ali watched Pete do a couple of haircuts, was suitably impressed, and left for two weeks in Rarotonga — leaving Pete to mind the shop, cover the costs and pocket the rest. Pete later admitted he'd never made so much money in his career up to that point. Ali came home a little sore, having fallen off a scooter and broken a couple of ribs, and asked if Pete wanted to buy the business. "Hell, yeah," came the reply. The pair split the week — Ali on Mondays to Wednesdays, Pete on Thursdays and Fridays, plus the Saturday mornings Pete had convinced the hesitant older man to open. Occasionally the sign on the door read "Gone fishing. Open tomorrow," after the two had headed out onto the lake. People, Pete muses, were cool with that.
On 11 August 2003 the shop left Brownston Street for the premises it still occupies in the town centre today — Ali wrote the date on the wall and hung a mirror over it. Pete formally bought the business on 5 May 2004, and under his watch it has grown from two full-time chairs to four, employing fifteen people over thirteen years. In late 2017 the name changed from AliBaba's to Ali Barbers, a refresh meant to honour Ali's contribution while making clear what the shop offered. Pete has worked beyond the chair too, driving improvement in barbering through the industry training organisation, and the shop still trains its own — apprentice Brynn, who kept coming back week after week asking for a start, has since qualified.
At the Dunmore Street shop today, experienced barbers handle everything from a classic cut to a trendy trim, alongside beard grooming sessions — and kids are regulars too. The CBD branch is strictly walk-ins only, which suits skiers, workers and locals who'd rather wander in when it suits; the group's Three Parks and Dunedin locations take online bookings, and current prices are published through the Book Now button on the Ali Barbers website.
"Yes I'm cutting hair all week, but each person's conversation is different and that makes every day different for me," Pete says. "It's the customers that make it." Half a century after Ali Baba first cut hair in Wanaka, that's still the spirit of the place — a proper barber shop in the heart of town, where the door is open and the chair is waiting.