A barber who called his salon Prov-City after the US city he grew up in has been subjected to an eight-month campaign of sectarian abuse. Graffiti has been daubed on the door of Stuart Pelletier’s salon and stones thrown at the window, and he has been subjected to abuse by strangers, who believe he is an IRA sympathiser, shouting: “C’mon the Provos.”
The 32-year-old, who spent his childhood in Providence, Rhode Island, said he will not change the name of his business in Hamilton despite the attacks. He said: “I have worked extremely hard to get where I am today and for people, usually kids, to constantly destroy or damage my business and what I’ve built is infuriating.
“First it was some type of make-up, then it was stones being thrown at the windows.” Stuart, who was born in East Kilbride, moved to Charlestown, near Rhode Island’s capital Providence, in the early 90s with his mum Lorraine and American stepdad Kevin Pelletier. He managed another salon before deciding to open his own in Hamilton earlier this year.
Since then, he has been subjected to abuse from people who think the name refers to the Provisional IRA – also known as the Provos. The barber, known as Stuggy, said: “Despite what has happened, I have no intention of changing the name. It is
something which is close to my heart and means a lot to me.
“I didn’t know what Provo meant until I named my shop. When I told friends, they said I should have thought of something else. I said, ‘Why?’ They explained it and I thought, ‘S***.’ I only now know a little of the background. I didn’t grow up in that atmosphere so I didn’t fully understand it. The shop is my dream and the vandalism is quite upsetting.”
Stuart, who has his salon’s name tattooed on his knuckles, hopes to open a second salon. He said: “I came here to make a new life for myself and I am not going to let that get in the way of my aspirations.” One customer told the Sunday Mail: “It’s such a shame. This gets misinterpreted as having sectarian meaning and his place keeps getting vandalised.”
Councillor Davie McLachlan, who represents the area, said: “I am extremely disappointed and upset for the business owner. It is shocking that anybody would try to make that kind of link. It is really disappointing it would pop up in this day and age.”
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