Floyd’s Barbershop, a Denver-based, rock ‘n’ roll-themed chain of barbershops, is slated to open in Terrapin Station May 15, said co-owner Paul O’Brien.

O’Brien, who started the business with brothers Rob and Bill in 1999, said his store will fill a middle ground between economy haircuts like the recently-departed Great Clips and high-end salons.

The College Park location will be Floyd’s first on the East Coast, with six stores already open in California and Colorado.

Floyd’s tries to cultivate an image that separates it from other shops by offering an Internet café, plastering walls with popular album covers and playing everything from Sinatra’s crooning to Eminem’s rare nonprofane tracks.

The chain’s image, a driving force behind its development, was created with traditional barbershop values in mind, O’Brien said.

Though it shares a name with Floyd, the barber from The Andy Griffith Show, the store won’t feature images of the folksy Mayberry hairstylist, O’Brien said.

“We’d probably be sued if we did,” he said.

The O’Brien brothers felt the name had “roots” in haircutting. The company’s logo, a badge, was originally chosen as a mark of quality — then used to “protect Denver from bad haircuts,” according to an advertisement for the company’s first.

The name, the badge and the atmosphere are rooted in the O’Brien brothers’ desire to build their business’ image around the idea of “old school, new style,” combining the store’s slick image with traditional, high-quality barbershop service.

“You can get people in one time because something is cool,” he said. “You need good service to get people back.”

The store, which started hiring barbers, stylists and colorists this weekend, hopes to attract talented employees by offering them health benefits starting at 32 hours of work a week, something O’Brien said most shops don’t offer.

O’Brien stressed the importance of creating elements of a stereotypical barbershop where people can come and talk.

“If we’ve got the best haircutter in there and they don’t say two words, it doesn’t work,” he said.

Kwame Sorson, owner of Universal Barbershop, located about a mile north of the campus on Route 1, agrees with the importance of atmosphere.

“A barbershop is not a barbershop just because it says barbershop on it,” Sorson said.

Sorson defines the success of a barbershop by the quality of the barbers, the store’s appearance and the conversation within.

O’Brien began looking in the area because he was born in Bowie and still has family in the area. His sister, Crofton native Ann Dyer, is working with Greg Barba, a mutual friend, to open and co-own the College Park location.

The large student population at the university was another draw. O’Brien said the store’s rock ‘n’ roll image and moderate prices will appeal to the demographics of a college town. O’Brien opened a store about three miles from University of California, Los Angeles, a month and a half ago, and students are beginning to find the location, he said. Word of mouth is the main avenue of advertisement, which he said accounts for some of the lag at the UCLA location.

He projects students at this university will find his store more quickly, but still said he was concerned about drawing students away from whoever is cutting their hair now. He said he chose the Terrapin Station site because of the success other Denver-based businesses have had in the area, such as Noodles & Company, Chipotle and Quiznos.

O’Brien wishes to build more stores in Prince George’s County but has no specific plans yet. One of his greatest concerns, he said, is not sacrificing quality to grow the business at a faster pace.