The craft cocktails at Barbershop Blackstone have names like the Straight Razor and Hot Towel Margarita. Conversation pieces include a red barber chair from the 1950s and a striped barber pole near the entrance, which has no other signage and is tucked away down an alley. However, siblings Jaclyn Oltmans and Mike DiGiacomo, owners of the bar, have been told by the state that the establishment can’t carry the name “barbershop” because it’s not one. The Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners explained that because they are not licensed barbers, they could face civil and criminal consequences. As a result the owners temporarily renamed the business Censored Shop Blackstone while their lawsuit against the state plays out in federal court. The siblings opened the barbershop-themed bar in March 2025 in Omaha’s Blackstone District, in a building that for roughly 30 years housed DeComo’s Hair Fashions, the salon of their father, Don DiGiacomo, who died in 2022 at age 88. For years, the DiGiacomos operated an Italian-themed speakeasy in the space, then rebranded it last year to pay tribute to the man known as “Don the Barber.” The owners are being represented by the First Amendment Clinic at the University of Nebraska College of Law.
