Coleman-Ware Brothers Open Ceduna’s First Barber Shop in 50 Years in South Australia

CEDUNA, Australia — Tjerayh and Tjeryan Coleman-Ware have opened Ceduna’s first dedicated barber shop in nearly five decades, ending a 50-year commercial drought in the remote South Australian coastal hub.

The venture, named ThaBruthaz Barbershop, stands on the town’s primary commercial strip. It operates as the only 100 percent Aboriginal-owned and operated storefront on the main street.

For the brothers, the launch turns a makeshift backyard craft into a permanent downtown anchor. Decades had passed since Ceduna last housed a local barber. Residents frequently made do with home clippers or waited for cross-regional travel to secure a professional trim.

From Family Shed Clippers to Main Street Commercial Anchor

The trade began out of sheer necessity. Tjerayh was 15 when he first picked up a set of clippers at home. With no professional barbers available in Ceduna to cut his or his brothers’ hair, the siblings took turns styling each other.

He started in the backyard shed. He taught himself the basics, cut by cut.

As word circulated through local sports networks and family channels, neighborhood boys began lining up outside the shed for trims. Football season spurred a steady rush of players demanding fresh cuts before match days. His younger brother, Tjeryan, studied the work from the sidelines before taking up clippers himself.

"The boys wanted to look sharp for game day," said Daniel Newchurch-Lawrie, a longtime Ceduna resident who has sat in Tjerayh’s chair since those early shed sessions. Newchurch-Lawrie watched the elder brother graduate from bare-bones buzz cuts to intricate styling. "You could see the skill jump every few months."

The Training Pipeline and Community Enterprise

A structured breakthrough arrived in 2024. The Ceduna Aboriginal Corporation (CAC)—a community-controlled non-profit body directing local economic and social reform—funded and coordinated a regional training drive, offering locals enrollment in a accredited Certificate III in Beauty and Barbering.

The brothers seized the opening together in 2025.

They pushed through the coursework at an aggressive pace, completing their formal vocational certifications in 2026 before securing commercial real estate downtown.

"We pretty much flew through everything as fast as we could," Tjerayh Coleman-Ware said of the intensive qualification run.

The storefront functions as an extended family enterprise. A younger cousin handles cleanup duties after school, sweeping loose hair from the polished floors. On the front counter, a timber stand features handmade earrings crafted by the brothers’ mother and younger sister—weaving the family directly into the shop's daily revenue.

Civic integration is already accelerating. Local Aboriginal health organization Yadu Health has booked ThaBruthaz Barbershop to host 'Clip and Yarns' sessions during November, utilizing the chairs as an informal health outreach venue where regional residents can gather, converse, and access community wellbeing support while receiving haircuts.