Chris Dickens is bringing some style Downtown.
Dickens intends to relocate his barber trade school from Jacksonville’s Westside to Downtown and open it as FCB Academy to add more programs.
“I wanted to move Downtown because the area is growing and there’s a lot more opportunity Downtown,” Dickens said.
Dickens intends to open the FCB Academy at 625 Julia St., which is near First Baptist Church Jacksonville and also close to restaurants and other amenities that students, instructors and staff can use.
Phoenix Industries of Jacksonville Inc., led by Dickens, paid $550,000 for the 8,071-square-foot building in a sale executed Friday and recorded Monday with the Duval County Clerk of Court.
Compass Bank made a $515,700 mortgage to Phoenix Industries, whose president is Dickens, on Friday.
Dickens said the 1,100-square-foot school along Timuquana Road would be phased out upon the move to the larger Downtown site.
The academy is adding cosmetology and esthetics and expanding into women’s styling and skin care.
Currently, the school has 17 students. The Downtown building has space for at least three classrooms, office space, break rooms and other uses, which Dickens said will allow the academy to accommodate 90 to 100 students among three programs.
It also will offer a walk-in clinic so students can train hands-on with customers under the supervision of instructors.
Dickens now operates at 5617 Timuquana Road, Suite C, where the First Coast Barber Academy offers courses and programs as well as a clinic.
The academy’s website says it teaches haircutting and barbering; fades and flat tops; cosmetology and razor cuts; and classic and hip barbering.
According to the site, the 36-week program costs $13,250 in tuition and fees and $1,500 in books and supplies. It also says financing options might be available through VA benefits, grants, federal and private loans, and institutional financing.
Dickens said tuition remains the same, although it will be less for the esthetics program.
Demetree Enterprises LLP sold the Downtown property, which was built in 1961. It formerly housed a plasma center. It sits on a fifth of an acre.
Dickens said there has been no activity in the building and it was in excellent shape. He expects to invest about $30,000 to install shampoo bowls, furniture, chairs and other items.
He intends to open as soon as possible.
Licensed since 1992, Dickens said he owned a barber shop for 10 years before opening the academy in 2010.
Dickens, 43, is a New York native and attended Hawkeye Community College in Iowa to become a commercial photographer.
He intended to head to South Beach, but family connections led him to stay in Jacksonville.
He had been a barber in Des Moines, Iowa. He pursued the trade in Jacksonville, took a job, saved his money and then invested in the Timuquana site, where he opened Splittin Wigs.
He found he had to re-train some of the new barbers he hired, so he decided to open his own academy.
Dickens researched the industry and sought the necessary licensing and accreditations.
He’s also an inventor, having created the “Greatest Pillow on Earth” after his former wife’s emergency cesarean section. He developed a “V”-shaped pillow for better comfort and he hopes to sell it on the QVC network and through Northern Response in Canada.
Last year, his academy trained 26 students.
He also has trained celebrities. Former student Dustin Monk competed on “The Voice” in September. Dickens said Monk will work at the Downtown academy.
“There’s so much potential down here,” Dickens said Wednesday, citing One Spark and other events that draw action and attention Downtown.
“I like the ambience.”
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