I have lived in the Loughborough junction area for over 42 years, and for 39 of those years I have had my hair cut at Albertos on Camberwell Green.
In that time we have had many conversations and I learned just a little about his life. He was born like his 5 brothers and 1 sister in Newcastle. His father and mother emigrated to Newcastle where all the children were born. His father was a shoemaker. They returned to Italy in 1936 when Alberto was 4 years old where his father joined the army. Italy is where Alberto learned barbering.
He returned to the UK in 1948 and started working in London’s West End and Southampton. He opened Albertos in March 1961 having worked in a barber shop around the corner on Camberwell New Road.
Photo: London Metropolitan Archives, 1972. reference 54533
He was a fixture in Camberwell ever since.
Alberto Petrozzi (1932-2019), it’s been a pleasure. RIP.
Loughborough Junction 
Thank you so much for sharing this. I’m a recent tenant of Alberto’s and it’s lovely to get this insight into his life. He was an incredibly warm and genuine man and seemed to mean a lot to so many people in the local community. To Alberto!
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Hello there,
I was searching for information about whether the shop is still open and discovered this article.
I am 41 years old and had been going to Albert’s since I was 4 or 5: no one can remember precisely but he always mentioned me having to sit on the wooden board for the first few years!
I don’t need to say this to anyone who met him but he really was a wonderful, lovely man and even when I moved out of the area, nearly 15 miles away, I still came back not just to have a haircut but to catch up with him. He remembered something about all of his regular customers which he would talk about as soon as they were sat in the chair, it was lovely and amazing to see.
Anyone reading this who never met him or has never had the same loyalty/relationship with a barber may struggle to understand this, but I really will miss him and the conversations we had.
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Hi, thanks for your lovely comments. I share them entirely, The lovely Anna is now running the shop and it is still open.
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Hi Thank you for sharing this.
I was his tenant for long time. I moved out this time last year and I still remember his last greeting.. I regret I should have visited him a bit earlier.
I miss his smiley face.. I wish my thoughts and prayers go out to him..
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Hi Thank you for sharing this.
I was his tenant for long time. I moved out this time last year and I still remember his last greeting.. I regret I should have visited him a bit earlier.
I miss his smiley face so much. I wish my thoughts and prayers go out to him..
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