Wash. barbershop stops taking cash

There isn't much that's simple about Brenda Humbert's barbershop along Everett's Evergreen Way.  The decor alone is testament to that.   Except one thing, said her customers.

"She does a great job," said customer Ray Robinson. "I'll keep coming back."

If so, he will return to a barbershop with a brand new policy on how he'll pay to have his hair cut and his whiskers trimmed.

>> Read more trending stories  

"I did change my policy," Brenda Humbert said. "Reluctantly, and with a lot of hassles to go along with it, I had to change the policy. Now we can't take cash because that attracts the robbers that have been in the area, and I have to protect my clients, and I have to protect me and my family."

Robinson didn't seem to mind.

"I pretty much use everything with debit card now anyway," he said. "I never carry cash."

KIRO 7 talked to other businesses along Evergreen Way. They concede they have been robbed in the past.

"A couple of failed attempts and one smash-and-grab," said Jamey Leckner, owner of Dreamers Rods & Pickups Northwest.

But Leckner said each time, he has increased security at his performance car accessory business. He hasn't considered going cash-free.

"We take it out every night. So no, I wouldn't think so," Leckner said.

"But you understand why your neighbor might?"  he was asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he said. "It's a concern."

"See, no cash," Robinson said as he prepared to pay his bill.

The barbershop's new policy is just fine with him.

"I think we're moving to a cashless society," Robinson said.

Humbert was asked what she'll do if her new policy doesn't work. She says she hasn't thought that far.  She's just hoping her cash-free policy will keep her small business crime free too.

About the Author