Since the events of the previous film, Calvin Palmer, Jr. (Ice Cube) has finally settled comfortably into his role as the owner of the inner-city barbershop founded by his grandfather and father. The shop's latest threat comes from overzealous developer Quentin Leroux (Harry Lennix) who opens a rival barbershop chain across the street, called "Nappy Cutz". Nappy Cutz hires many celebrities for their brand campaign & launch in style. Quentin threatens Calvin that his business will be finished in 7 months at the most and he promises to buy Calvin's shop when the bank forecloses. Nappy Cutz is known for superior customer experience like wine served when you walk through the door, an aquarium floor with live fish in it, female staff in bikinis, massages and so on. Calvin's wife counsels him not to overreact and that many of the "innovations" are probably just rumors or exaggerations.While Calvin attempts to figure out how to deal with the coming threat of direct competition from Quentin's flashy establishment, his barbers have issues of their own. Isaac (Troy Garity), the lone white barber, is now the star of the shop, and begins to feel that he deserves star treatment, feeling neglected by Calvin and the other barbers. Isaac puts a signature "I" on the haircuts of his customers and has his own genuine fan following. Terri (Eve) is finding success in managing her anger but has trouble dealing with the growing mutual attraction between her and Ricky (Michael Ealy).Jimmy (Sean Patrick Thomas) has quit the shop to work for the local alderman Lalowe Brown (Robert Wisdom); his replacement, Calvin's cousin Kenard (Kenan Thompson), is fresh out of barber school and horribly inept at cutting hair. Jimmy tries to petition the alderman to stop Nappy Cutz from opening & destroying the barbershop, but Brown decides to do nothing. Jimmy is disillusioned as Brown had earlier said that he wanted to keep the neighborhood fertile for small businesses. Calvin is also petitioned by all the other shop owners in the neighborhood to sell the barbershop to a Cineplex developer as the developer will pay twice as much if the barbershop is part of the package. Calvin still refuses.To increase customer loyalty to his barbershop Calvin organizes a barbecue at the back of his shop & introduces some rules like greeting customers with their name, no naked ladies' pictures & no loud talk within the shop. Calvin increases the booth rents for all the barbers in his shop to pay for the barbecue. This reveals that Eddie pays no booth rent to Calvin like the other barbers. One day, the gang gets curious and breaks into the Nappy Cutz shop at night, to find out more about their famed decor. The chairs are leather, and the equipment is top of the line. They even have a basketball court inside the shop. As Nappy Cutz gets closer to opening, Calvin decides to renovate the barbershop with new decor, equipment, TV & uniforms for staff. Brown comes by with a TV crew to promote the neighborhood and steps into Calvin's shop. Ricky picks this time to challenge Isaac as the best barber of the shop, and Isaac chooses this time to expose Ricky's romantic tryst with Terri. Dinka (Leonard Earl Howze) is still interested in Terri but is distraught when he finds out that she loves Ricky instead. Isaac leaves the shop and joins Nappy Cutz. The shop gets more negative publicity when Kenard messes up Brown's haircut live on TV.Meanwhile, the barbershop and other businesses like it are under threat from gentrification and Calvin is offered a substantial bribe from Brown and Leroux in exchange for his support of the city council's pro-gentrification legislation. This legislation includes Calvin's vote for the Cineplex development in exchange for a bribe of $ 200,000. Additionally, Calvin will get to keep his shop and Leroux will kill his Nappy Cutz project. This development project will push up prices of everything for the entire community & that's why the developers are super interested in making it happen at any cost. Some shop owners want to sell out & support this plan. But many others will be forced out when the re-development pushes up rental costs & drive their establishments out of business.A subplot involves Eddie recalling his time as a young man in the late 1960s, when he first started working at the shop with Calvin's father, including the riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. Eddie had saved the shop from rioters when he refused to leave in face of arsonists. Eddie first came into the shop running from the police, after robbing a grocery store of some fruits, meats, and bread. Calvin's father refused to give up Eddie to the police and protected him. Also, Eddie remembers his long-lost love Loretta (Garcelle Beauvais) when he suddenly sees her one day at a subway station. This subplot causes Eddie and Calvin to begin bonding.Calvin's ex-girlfriend Gina (Queen Latifah) works at the beauty shop next door. The shop is also owned by Calvin, and he visits there to collect the rent. The girls at the beauty shop have similar conversations and experiences like the barbers and Gina has a bitter rivalry with Eddie (Cedric the Entertainer). Gina gets into frequent shouting matches with Eddie whenever she believes that Eddie is out of line with his misogynist comments.After attempting to change his own barbershop's style and decor to match those of his rival, Calvin decides to refuse the bribe money and speak out against the neighborhood's gentrification at the local city council meeting. Though Calvin gives a passionate speech about the legislation helping the region to earn money at the cost of its soul and the community, the council still unanimously votes to approve the legislation and move forward with the project. Terri and Ricky accept their love for one another. Turns out Ricky was frequently late to the shop and lazy as he was studying for the GEDs, which he passed. Dinka loses Terri but finds love in a stylist at Gina's beauty shop. Isaac returns to Calvin.Though the pro-gentrification project is approved, the community remains loyal to Calvin's barbershop.