For more than a year now I’ve stared at that “For Rent” sign in the window of that tiny, empty building on the corner of Court and Placer streets. I’ve fantasized about what could go there, which is a real puzzle since its insides are only about 400-square feet and its outside has limited parking.  

Forever - more than 25 years - it was occupied by American Lock & Key Services. Before that, beginning in the ’40s, it was a gas station.

My imaginary business options were limited by the fact that its owner, Samarjjit Kaur, also owns the Downtown Market & Deli next door that sells food and beverages. (That place was the  Jernigan’s Market of my childhood.) Since Kaur wasn’t wild about renting to a competitor, my ideas - like a bakery or coffee shop or bagel shop or pizza hut or ice cream drive-through - wouldn’t fly. Only my flower shop idea remained, but hey, I was just dreaming.

Kathleen Kaplan of Redding did more than fantasize about a business there. This month she opened her barbershop, Court St. Clippers there.

Most recently she worked six months on Parkview Avenue, across from the Shasta County Library, and before that, she ran Westside Haircuts for about eight years. She didn’t feel comfortable in either place.

Kaplan is excited about her new business location. She loves its prime-spot visibility, and the price was right.

“I’d have to be on Cypress and Hilltop to get this kind of traffic anywhere else,” she said. “It’s a four-way stop and people sit there with nothing to do. Plus, it’s only $600 a month. It’s hard to find a commercial space to rent that’s under $1,500. The big thing for me is I didn’t know if I could make a gas station feel cozy.

Kaplan, a certified cosmetologist who’s also an artist, dolled up her Court St. Clippers and hung her oil paintings, much as she’d decorate a home, with rugs on the floor and new paint on the walls. She plans to put a large pot of flowers outside, where a gas pump once sat.

Now she’s open for walk-in business, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. No appointments, and nothing fancy. Just haircuts: $8 or $6 for seniors. For more information call Kaplan at 917-3601.