Mike DiGiacomo and his two siblings own “The Barber Shop Blackstone” and renamed the speakeasy cocktail lounge to pay homage to their father Don’s nearly half-century career. But the state agency that regulates actual barbers, barbershops and schools protested. The case went to trial Tuesday, with DiGiacomo suing. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
OMAHA — In an alley behind Omaha’s Blackstone Entertainment Corridor, there’s a hidden entrance to a speakeasy whose name the brothers who own it wanted to honor their father.
Just inside the door, in the foyer, a patron at The Barber Shop Blackstone indulges in barbershop nostalgia. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
There’s no exterior signage, but a mini barbershop pole offers a glimpse into my father’s long-standing business and the experiences of the many others who have had their hair cut in the family building near 40th and Farnham streets over the past few years.
Upon entering, Blackstone Barber Shop patrons are greeted with a sense of nostalgia: an old-fashioned barber’s chair, black-and-white photos of different hairstyles, and a cocktail menu that includes drinks like the “Scotch and Scissors” and the “Classic Cut Old Fashioned.”
“It’s essentially a tribute to our dad and some of his Italian barber friends,” said co-owner Mike DiGiacomo, a former Omaha television professional who called barbering “a huge profession in the past” for the immigrant community.
The hairdressing board is steamed
When it comes to actual operations, though, he said he and his siblings have always marketed the place as a bar “in no uncertain terms.”
Still, there’s a little-known state agency throughout the establishment that oversees actual barbershops, hairdressers, and schools, all of which are kept busy. The Nebraska Barber Examination Board cited a state law that prohibits the use of the “barbershop” name and the familiar red, white and blue barber poles unless the entity has a state-issued barbering license.
The board threatened civil and criminal proceedings against the bar for violating the Barber Act and its trademark, and even suggested an alternative name for DiGiacomos’ bistro: Bar-Bar.
The dispute came to court on Tuesday, with the DiGiacomo family flipping the script and filing a lawsuit alleging that a state law violated their First Amendment rights by “restricting lawful, non-misleading commercial speech.”
The siblings said the barbershop speakeasy does not offer haircuts and is “obviously a barbershop-themed bar.”
“Absurd” is how Di Giacomo summed up the board’s position. “I never thought in a million years the Barber Review Board would have a problem with us.”
Blackstone Barber Shop. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
DiGiacomos’ Social Holdings LLC is represented by the University of Nebraska College of Law’s First Amendment Clinic, which stepped in to offer free legal services because the bar owner was about to throw in the towel — not wanting to invest about $150,000 in a legal defense.
Attorney Daniel Gutman, director of the clinic, said he and students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln School of Law found the case extremely interesting. They argue that the impending state regulations violate Blackstone Barbershop’s constitutional rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.
“This is the pinnacle of government overreach,” Gutmann said. “Certainly, this is an undertaking that aligns with the values of the clinic and the First Amendment Clinic. … It provides our students with the opportunity to really delve into the intersection between private enterprise, speech and government regulation.”
Terminate dispute
The legal team sought a ruling from the U.S. District Court in Omaha to “put an end to the dispute.”
It sought a declaration that the use of “Barber Shop” in a business name and the use of barber poles as marketing props were valid under commercial speech rights and that the Barber Act’s application to DiGiacomo’s business was unconstitutional.
Attorney Daniel Gutman, director of the First Amendment Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law, volunteered to take on the case for Blackstone Barbershop. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
The lawsuit seeks to restrain the Barber Board and its attorneys from interfering with those uses and seeks attorneys’ fees.
Tara Sterns, Joseph Scoville and Courtney Daubendiek are all named as defendants in their official capacities as members of the Barber Review Board. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers is also named as a defendant.
Hilgers’ office said it had no comment. The Barbers Council did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
However, the lawsuit and communications between the board of directors and the bar owners shed light on the altercation:
The building that houses the speakeasy is located at 3910 Farnam Street and has been owned by DiGiacomo’s parents, Don and Linda, since 1977. Don has run a barbering and salon business there for over 30 years, and has been in the industry for nearly 50 years, starting when he was 18 years old.
As children, the DiGiacomo siblings spent their formative years there helping the family with their hair and cleaning. They listened to countless stories from customers and barbers. Mike DiGiacomo said his father, now deceased, retired around 2004 and rented the building space to others who continued the profession in the building for another decade or so.
Siblings Mike Oltmans, Dominic Oltmans and Jaclyn Oltmans purchased the building from their parents several years ago. It is part of the still-developing Blackstone business district. The main floor is Blackstone Social, a basement space originally converted by the siblings into an Italian speakeasy called “Italian Speakeasy” Osteria Segreto, It means “hidden bistro” in Italian.
In early 2025, the siblings changed their branding to honor Don DiGiacomo and other barbers.
“The bar, like a speakeasy, is intentionally discreet,” the lawsuit states.
Every drink has a story
The walls of The Barber Shop Blackstone are decorated with photos and items in a variety of barbershop themes. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
Advertisements on social media welcome customers to a “barbershop where every drink tells a story” and where “carefully crafted cocktails and whiskeys take you on a journey of taste and aroma.”
Shortly after the rebranding, DiGiacomo began receiving letters from the Barber Review Board alleging violations of state law. An April 15 letter said the board had recently become aware of the agency’s existence.
“It has come to our attention that this business is using the barbershop name, barber pole and barber pole imagery to market itself,” director Kenneth Allen said in the letter. He asked the owners to revise their business practices and said the board was prepared to take formal legal action.
DiGiacomo asked for a discussion in his April 24 response. He said that while his ownership group intends to comply with the law, it believes the regulations “may be too broad or outdated when applied to a business like theirs that was never intended to be a barber shop.”
“We are a cocktail bar, not a personal grooming establishment, and no reasonable person would expect our employees to give us haircuts or shaves,” DiGiacomo said in the letter.
He said he believes the law is designed to protect public health and safety by ensuring only licensed individuals provide haircut services. “The bar is inspired by the ethos of a barbershop, not the service.”
A TV screen in the foyer of the Blackstone Barber Shop shows footage of vintage barbers. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
He told Allen the bar had the support of a number of licensed barbers, who saw its concept as a tribute, not a threat. On certain nights, barbers and hairstylists receive discounts on drinks, he said.
In a June 24 letter, Allen reminded DiGiacomo of his legal obligations, adding that state law states that “a business engages in deceptive trade practices when there is potential for misunderstanding about its certification.”
“We reiterate that violations of the Barber Act can have civil and criminal consequences,” Allen said in the letter. “Litigation can be an expensive and time-consuming process.”
Appreciate an industry
DiGiacomo said at the time that his siblings were prepared to make changes to comply with the board’s requirements, including changing the color of the barber poles to black and white. He said the board recommended an alternative name.
Allen sent an email on February 6 seeking an update. DiGiacomo did not respond and instead filed a lawsuit.
Gutman said business speech and how companies advertise and express themselves through marketing and names is an area of law, likely due to the expense.
He and DiGiacomo said their target was not the barber board itself but the laws that govern it.
“The idea is to honor our families and other fellow barbers,” DiGiacomo said. “The board has nothing to regulate or protect – just a nod to the theme of an industry we admire.”
Mike DiGiacomo stands inside Barber Shop Blackstone, a barbershop-themed lounge serving cocktails like the “Scotch and Scissors” and the “Barber’s Flight.”
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