Goodbye Varsity Barber Shop; Hello, Mobil on the Run

Goodbye Pete Bishop. Hello, Mobil on the Run.

After a 45-year run as a barber, Bishop closed the at 11142 Manchester Road this weekend. The building that housed it will be demolished to make way for a Mobil on the Run service station and convenience store.

But before the end came, state Rep. Rick Stream, R-Kirkwood, stopped by the barber shop to present Bishop with a Missouri House Resolution honoring his 45 years of service.

"It was cool for me to see, since Pete gave me my first ever haircut as a child and cut my hair for 20 years," Charles Hinderliter told Patch. He's the campaign manager for Stream's re-election bid and a political science teacher at Jefferson College.

Bishop's shop and the neighboring service station are being razed to make way for an expanded Mobil on the Run gas station and convenience store. The development was controversial for months in Kirkwood as residents complained to city planners and council members about their concerns over increased traffic.

When the , developers said it would increase the number of islands at the station from four to eight and include a new convenience store. Wallis Companies, which owns the station, anticipate a 100 percent increase in gas revenue and a 50 percent increase in convenience store revenue.