SIDNEY -- Mike Baker decided to return to his roots, or at least an earlier occupation, and hang a shingle at the corner of 11th Avenue and Illinois advertising barber services.

"We're on the corner of Illinois and 11th. It's actually part of Matt Nelson's Nelson Design and Hair Salon. We turned the whole place into a barber shop now, too," Baker said.

He said opening a barber shop in Sidney takes him back to his earlier days.

"I was a barber before I moved here, for five years. I had a barber shop and then when my wife and I moved here in 2018 I trucked for Adams for six years. I'm just getting to the point where I don't want to be a trucker anymore," he said.

He had a conversation with Matt Nelson that resulted in a walk-in barber shop.

He describes the barber shop as a relaxed environment where customers can walk in and typically not have to wait more than a few minutes for a haircut. While waiting, conversations are likely in the style of a community meeting place. 

"It's just a good-old-fashioned barber shop. We're open Tuesday through Saturday, 8 to 5 weekdays and 8 to 4 on Saturday," he said.

Baker jokes about it kind of has a "Mayberry" feel; maybe a checkerboard will be in the future. It is the relaxed atmosphere where the conversations will likely be as much of a draw as the haircut.