Sharkey's Barbers is a walk-in barbershop on Moana St in Whanganui Central, run by award-winning barber Josh Sharkey. No appointment needed — just come on in during opening hours and take a seat.
Josh brings ten years behind the chair to the shop, with wins at the Manawatu Barbering Competition and Best of the Pole on Main Street. After close to half of that decade working for the local competition, he struck out on his own with a clear goal: quality cuts at reasonable prices.
The service menu covers the barbershop essentials — men's cuts with dedicated options for kids, students and seniors, skin fades as an add-on to any cut, clipper cuts, shampoo, beard and moustache trims, and a traditional cut throat shave. A compact retail range of hair styling spider waxes, gum effect gels and beard care oil helps you keep the look between visits.
The shop opens Monday to Friday, 9:30AM to 5:30PM, with no walk-ins past 5:00PM. You can follow Sharkey's Barbers on Facebook and Instagram to see the latest work coming out of the chair.
Sharkey's Barbers runs on a refreshingly simple idea: if you want a good haircut, you shouldn't need an appointment to get one. The shop on Moana St in Whanganui Central is a true walk-in barbershop — you come on in, take a seat in the chair, and leave looking sharper than when you arrived.
The name on the door belongs to Josh Sharkey, and he has earned the right to put it there. Across the last ten years he has built a solid reputation in the region, winning the Manawatu Barbering Competition and taking out Best of the Pole on Main Street. Close to half of that decade was spent working for the local competition, honing the craft and building a following, before he decided the time had come to branch out and open a shop of his own with a clear mission: quality cuts at reasonable prices.
That mission shapes how the shop operates. There is no booking system to navigate and no diary to fit yourself into — the door is open on weekdays and the chair takes whoever sits in it next. It is barbershop culture the way it used to be: an easy, unbooked visit with a result you can trust, from a barber whose competition wins tell you the standard he holds himself to.
The service list reads like a proper barbershop menu should. At its core is the men's cut, with dedicated options for kids, students and seniors, plus a shampoo service for anyone who wants to walk out fully refreshed. Skin fades — one of the most demanding cuts in the book — are offered as an add-on to any haircut, the kind of service that separates a careful barber from a hurried one.
The Clipper & Trims side of the menu covers the details: a straightforward clipper cut when you want a clean, quick result, beard trims, moustache trims, and the full cut throat shave for anyone who takes their grooming tradition seriously.
The cut throat shave deserves its own moment. It is a service many modern shops quietly leave off the list, but it remains firmly on the menu at Sharkey's — a proper straight-razor finish you simply cannot replicate at home, delivered by a barber who does it day in and day out.
A good cut only stays good for so long, so the shop keeps a retail shelf stocked to bridge the gap between visits. The styling lineup includes Blackwidow and Tarantula Hair Styling Spider Wax alongside Fuchsia and Casual Gum Effect Hair Gels, while bearded regulars can pick up a Beard and Mustache Care Oil to keep things conditioned between trims. Together they cover the full routine: wax or gel for the hair on top, oil for the beard underneath. It is a tight, curated range rather than a wall of options — the sort of products a barber actually stands behind.
Sharkey's Barbers sits at 54C Moana St, Whanganui, and keeps weekday hours: 9:30AM to 5:30PM, Monday through Friday, with no walk-ins past 5:00PM. That last detail matters — the walk-in model means the clock is the only thing standing between you and a fresh cut, so don't leave it until the final half hour. You can also follow the shop on Facebook and Instagram for a rolling look at the work coming out of the chair.
Whether you are after a regular men's cut, a kids' haircut, a fresh fade, a beard tidy-up or the full traditional shave, the formula at Sharkey's is the same: walk in, sit down, and let a decade of craft do its work.