Jonathon Atiyeh started cutting hair as a self-taught freshman in the dorms at Penn State Berks in 2003. “It paid for my Wawa runs,” he says, smiling. When he transferred to University Park a couple of years later, more people started coming to him for shape-ups, beard trims, and fades. In August 2011, Atiyeh ’07 H&HD opened Fitted Cuts, which has provided styles and cuts for all varieties of hair since.

The barbershop, which moved into its current location on Fraser Street in 2019, specializes in “city cuts,” Atiyeh says—shape-ups, tapers, fades, and “frohawks,” all the way to comb-overs or classic crew cuts. Fitted Cuts has two female stylists and offers extensions, braiding, silk presses, and color. Atiyeh, who earned a degree from Empire Beauty School, says working in a college town helps his staff stay on top of the latest trends, and he has been pleased to see a coed clientele develop. “Sometimes guys’ conversations are different than women’s conversations, but it meshes well here,” he says.

An Allentown native, Atiyeh has put down roots in State College. Most of his clients are locals, but most of his walk-ins are Penn State students, and he enjoys getting to see them when they come back to campus for football weekends as alumni. “They’ll stop in here, even if they’re not getting a cut, just to say what’s up,” he says. “You get to see where they’re at in life.”