No telling who you might bump into at Thomas Barber Shop in Buckhead.
Customers run the gamut of life — Coca-Cola executives, politicians, plumbers. Any and everybody. They come for the banter and family atmosphere as much as a trim. It’s an old-school oasis, free of pretensions, located at 1268 West Paces Ferry Rd.
And that’s what draws patrons, some of whom have penned online accolades.
“A lot of places try to play off the old-time barber shop look and feel,” wrote Owen R. of Atlanta. “Thomas Barber Shop doesn’t have to fake this; that’s what it’s always been and that’s what it always will be.”
Frank L.Wilson III, a family friend and attorney, has been a patron since he was 5. He credits Doris Thomas, the family matriarch, with setting the tone and making the place homey.
“Mrs. Thomas was the yin to Big Tommy’s yang,” Mr. Wilson said. “He was loud, a character sort of larger than life. She wasn’t a barber but she would be there all day, whether she was doing manicures or greeting people. Like a lot of women in a marriage, she was the real strength. She was the one who made the shop feel like family.”
Doris Rose Thomas, 81, of Douglasville, died Monday from kidney complications at her home. The funeral will be 1 p.m. Wednesday at the chapel of Jones-Wynn Funeral Home in Douglasville.
Mrs. Thomas and her late husband, Gilmer “Big Tommy” Thomas Sr., opened the shop in September 1959. Years later, Mrs. Thomas started doing manicures after she took a course at Atlanta Tech. With her dry humor, she was a shop fixture until the early 2000s, when time spent at the business took a toll on her failing health.
“She worked on the hands of a lot of prominent people,” said Walter Clexton Thomas of Fayetteville, the son who runs the shop. “She worked on a lot of young girls and some of them started calling her mother. When they lost their mothers, she became their adopted mother. She was really part of that neighborhood, that community.”
Before her demise, Mrs. Thomas had been looking forward to the shop’s 50th anniversary, which takes place in September. Coca-Cola plans to produce a limited-edition bottled Coke that bears the business name.
“There is hardly anything left like this in Atlanta,” said Mr. Wilson, the family friend. “And [Mrs. Thomas] was a real strength and a kind presence.”
Additional survivors include a daughter, Doris Ann Thomas Rye of Douglasville; another son, Gilmer Waymon Thomas Jr. of Cumming; a brother, Robert Rose; two stepbrothers, Arlin Rose and Jerry Rose; and a sister, Carolyn Branham, all of Elgin, S.C.; five stepsisters, Emmadora Rose Mikesch of Fenton, Mo; Iris Rose; Betty Rose Timmerberg; Vera Rose Nelson; and Jean Rose Jeffers, all of Elgin, S.C.; five grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
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