Dot .Barber is the new gTLD for barber shops.
A new gTLD application at ICANN aims to give all barbers their own dedicated domain. The application for Dot .Barber is currently being processed, with no apparent opposition.
“For years, I was baffled as of why barbers can’t afford their own domain name, then it hit me: They all call themselves ‘Barber Shop’!” says Dot .Barber initiative president and founder, Costas Karaflas.
“No marketing skills, imagine calling your restaurant ‘Restaurant’ instead of ‘Tula’s Greek Chops & Ouzo Cafe’. With Dot .Barber we are going to shift the paradigm and give those snobby hair salons a run for their money,” adds Karaflas.
Born in Kalamata, Greece, Costas Karaflas became an entrepreneur from a young age, helping pick the fleshy olives at his family’s orchards; after school, Costas Karaflas would then sell olive oil, oregano and olives at the local market, for millions of drachmas.
“I learned that with hard work success soon arrives,” says Costas Karaflas, who became a barber at age 18, and then moved to America in 1978 for a better future.
After successfully running a number of barber shops in Astoria, NY, Karaflas sold his franchise to New England Easy Cuts for $2.1 million which he invested in mutual funds and securities.
Investments paid off; by 2010, Costas Karaflas bought up New England Easy Cuts, which is now valued at $125 million dollars. Costas’s son, Dimitri, is now heading the barber shop franchise with great success.
“With .Barber we will give every struggling barber that can’t afford their own domain and web site, a chance to be competitive in the cut-throat battle against hair salons,” says Costas Karaflas. “It’s a dream of a lifetime, to give back to the profession that helped me make it in America!” adds Karaflas, visibly emotional.
ICANN’s next session is in September, and the decision over the Dot .Barber gTLD is expected to pass uncontested.
