About Weiss Barber Supply
Serving Wichita barbers since 1952
Weiss Barber Supply began in 1952 when Leonard and Juanita Weiss started selling barber tools and supplies out of their garage in Wichita. By 1957 the business had outgrown the garage and moved into a proper storefront. Leonard’s approach was simple and lasting: he didn’t tell barbers how to work—he put the right tools in their hands so they could define their own craft.
In 1972 Leonard tried retirement and sold the store to his daughter Carolyn and son-in-law Harvey Unruh. Retirement didn’t stick; Leonard kept running routes through Southeast and Eastern Kansas. Carolyn passed in 1985. Harvey continued alone until his death in 1992, when their son Terry Unruh took over.
In 2016 the owners were ready to retire and close the business. The only interest at the time came from barbers, but the family wanted to stay true to Leonard’s original philosophy of simply equipping barbers rather than directing them. With no buyer who aligned with that vision, they began selling off the inventory and prepared to shut the doors.
That is when Jack Jenkins stepped in. He was running a motorcycle leather and accessories business at the time. Once he learned the history and culture of the store, he fell in love with it and decided it was worth keeping alive. Terry Unruh taught Jack the basics of clipper and trimmer repair. Jack went further—talking with manufacturers, completely disassembling and rebuilding machines, learning modifications for better performance, and later expanding into blade sharpening. At the time most machines were still corded.
Jack has always kept his full-time job as a fiber splicer at Cox Communications (often 60–70 hours a week). The store has never been highly profitable; it has always been run for the love of the trade and the people in it. His wife Hannah managed day-to-day operations from 2018 to 2024, staying in close contact with Jack about customers and needs while he was on the job.
During those years our sons grew up in the store instead of daycare. Our oldest made his first tips opening the door for barbers. Our youngest bonded with a barber named Marcus who gave him his first haircut and has been cutting his hair ever since. The boys became part of the shop’s everyday life and the barbers became part of theirs.
Hannah later trained as an esthetician at Paul Mitchell, and the couple is building her salon. After she stepped away, a brief full-time employee in 2025 made it clear how easily the personal connection with local barbers could be lost. With typical traffic of only 2–4 customers a day (rarely more than 10), supporting full-time help was difficult. Jack has taken the store back personally. It now operates by appointment only so he can rebuild and protect that direct relationship with the barbers who have kept the place alive for more than seven decades.
Jack has also poured a tremendous amount of time into building and refining the online store — writing product descriptions, handling the backend systems, Google visibility, and SEO. What started as a necessity has grown into a solid website that now ships orders all across the country. Even so, Kansas barbers remain the priority.
Jack has also established a relationship with Hutchinson Community College, partnering with Andis to supply their barber students with high-quality machines for their kits.
The mission remains the same as Leonard’s: give barbers the tools and the respect to do their own work.