Somewhere between the franchises like Supercuts and Great Clips and the more high-end hair salons and beauty parlors, there's a cozy, neighborhood barbershop where males—both young and old—can still get a classic shave, beard trim and haircut for a reasonable price.

Jim Kooper's University Avenue Barber Shop, at 606 University Ave., is the second-oldest continuously family-owned business in Los Gatos that has remained in the same location since 1947. But it's more than that.

It was described by patrons as "a gathering place" and a community center where men, including longtime friends of Kooper, stop by to catch up on the latest town gossip or just reminisce about "the good old days." They also tend to razz each other about their age and weight, said customer Paul Grabeel, a 1958 graduate of Los Gatos High School.

"Jim's kind of a focal point for everyone who went to high school with him," said Grabeel. "A lot of times, if I don't have anything else to do, I'll come down here and harass him."

While Kooper, 64, has been enjoying more vacation time and rounds of golf these days, he's not ready to retire yet, especially since he has to uphold a friendly rivalry with another local business.

Macabee Gopher Trap Co. at 110 Loma Alta Ave. in Los Gatos, the oldest business in Los Gatos, applied for its patent in 1900. Gopher Trap manager Ron Fink, 63, said the business has stayed in the same location for an honest 105 years, but said he actually believes it to be more like 110 years. Fink is also a faithful customer of Kooper's barbershop and remembers Kooper's dad, Bill, cutting his hair.

"Jim can still cut pretty good hair, even though he's old and feeble," said Fink, jokingly.

Fink and Kooper are also both 1958 graduates of Los Gatos High and 1954 graduates of the University Avenue Grammar School, where Old Town is located today. At a glance over class graduation photographs, Kooper pointed out dozens of his classmates who still get their hair cut at his shop.

Fink recalled how he and Kooper used "to raise hell" in town as teenagers, racing muscle cars and chasing girls around Magoos pizza parlor and the 5-Spot, a drive-in burger joint at Highway 9 and N. Santa Cruz Avenue, near the current location of Double D's Sports Grille. Kooper also launched Fink into the military for his going-away party with a "flat top" free hair cut.

"I don't need it thinned anymore," said Fink, chuckling. "It tends to thin naturally."

Kooper also has a tradition where he'll give a groom a free haircut before his first marriage, but not for second, third or fourth marriages. He's also the kind of guy who will visit his customers at home or in the hospital to cut their hair.

Every time someone visits the barbershop, Fink said they can expect a short Los Gatos history lesson, updates on community news, information on who has died and who is still alive, or even an appearance by a former council member or well-known resident.

"Ron, you should spike it," Grabeel called out, as Fink was getting his hair cut by Kooper. "You should get a mohawk."

Fink said he keeps coming back to Kooper's mainstay business after all these years because "Jim gave me a special rate way back when," said Fink, again kidding. "No, it's really the special connection. I wouldn't know what Ginny [Jim's wife] was doing or what his daughters were up to. It's mainly the social connection. We get together and keep up on what's going on."

Kooper operates the shop with the help of fellow barber Rich McLure, who said they have very few female customers, even though they can accommodate them. Half seriously, McLure said the shop is one of the last remaining thrones or "last bastions of male chauvinistic pigs." McLure added he loves the haircutting business.

"I do it because I enjoy it—just talking to the different people you get to meet from different walks of life," he said.

Kooper's dad, Bill, was a Greek immigrant who grew up in New York before heading out to California. He opened two barbershops in the 1930s in San Francisco's fog-coated Excelsior District. Then, in the early 1940s, their family relocated to Los Gatos and the warmer climate due to a health condition of one of Kooper's sisters.

Kooper's grandfather on his mother's side, who was also a Greek immigrant, bought properties on Olive Street, Montgomery Street and University Avenue for a total of about $9,800. The Olive Street house, which has remained in the family and which Kooper now lives in, once featured a vineyard that took up the whole block. But pieces of the property have been sold off over years, and the vineyard no longer exists.

Kooper's grandfather bought the University Avenue property for about $1,800 of the $9,800 and had the barbershop built. The property previously belonged to the Hubble family and was used as a business where pigeons or "squabs" were raised and sold for consumption.

The inside of the barbershop, which has been updated only slightly over the years, is decked in simple wood paneling and tiled floors, with large mirrors and countertops for haircutting accessories.

"It's nothing fancy," Fink said. "But there's nostalgia in the shop."

Historic photos cover the walls, and there are chairs for customers to wait in as well as an 1890 potbellied stove in the corner, on loan from Fink, Kooper said, which is the only source of heat for the business in the winter.

"This place is family-orientated, at least to me," Grabeel said. "It's like home."

Despite the changes and the merchants who have come and gone around the barbershop, not much has been altered inside its walls. An average haircut still takes about 15 minutes, and if a customer is 45 years old or older they're labeled an "old timer." Kooper's buddies described him as being easygoing, outgoing, not controversial and having a good sense of humor.

"With Jim, nothing ever changes. He's got just one style. He cuts your hair and if you're happy with it you go home," said longtime customer Rob, also known as Bob Giraudo. "This has always been a hub for a lot of us, even if you don't get a haircut. I was down here yesterday for about an hour or two just B.S.ing."

Giraudo remembered getting "butch" or crew cuts from Kooper's dad.

"He used to just scalp us and put a little wax on it to make it stand up," said Giraudo, who also went to grammar and high school with Kooper.

"We all picked prunes and apricots together when this valley was nothing but fruit orchards," Giraudo said.

When Kooper was just out of high school and attending San José City College, his dad became ill. Kooper "kept the bread on the table" as the oldest child by going to barber college and taking over his father's business, instead of joining the U.S. Air Force.

"I found out I liked it, and I've been here ever since, and that was in 1959," Kooper said. "I hadn't planned on doing it at all."

His father died of cancer in 1961, leaving Kooper to support his mother, grandfather and two sisters.

"It scared me to death. I was 21 years old," Kooper said.

Since the building was paid for and Kooper has had little overhead cost, the business has been easy to maintain over the years. The two barber chairs in the shop, which have been reupholstered, have been in the family for three generations.

Kooper is married to Ginny Kooper, also a longtime Los Gatan and a professional education aide at Raymond J. Fisher Middle School. The couple has two grown daughters.

Kooper said after he retires, he's not sure about what will happen to his shop.

"I don't see a future in the barbershop business anymore. They are dinosaurs. I've been trying to find help, but there are no more barbers around," he said.

While he doesn't really need to work, Kooper said he's planning to stay open a few more years, just so he can keep up with his friends and keep up the trimming tradition.

The barbershop is closed on Sunday and Monday, and Tuesday is generally the busiest day of the week. The shop hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. To reach Kooper at the shop, call 408.354.8842, or to schedule an appointment, call 408.354.2469.