Hair cuts. These were just some of the luxuries lost as businesses faced mandatory shutdowns due to the COVID pandemic. Yet as states began to reopen last month, most areas saw the resurgence of these businesses as longtime customers clamored to receive their self-care services. Ogden Newspapers spoke with business owners in 14 states to gauge how the reopening process has been as they work around masks, sanitize massage tables and keep their shops as clean β and as socially distanced β as possible.
The following is what we found. Norwalk is the seat for Huron County, one of the seven counties Gov. He said his shop has received a lot of backlash from community members who disagree with the mandate.
Brewer went on to explain that his barber chairs are sanitized after every client. No one is allowed to wait inside the shop, and only one customer is allowed in at a time. People are going to be getting heatstroke. One of the struggles she faced with reopening her salon was having to do so on such short notice. As a team, we went out and shopped. It was tough. It was not fun. Being the owner and having so many faces looking at me, asking what we were going to do, it was hard.
Being an authority, that changed our environment a little bit. Shambabh said as the weeks have gone on, people are getting more comfortable with the regulations in place and they seem less anxious about coming in. She said when Beauty on Broadway reopened, she saw an increase of new clients and business was busier than ever.
To be away from all that and to come back makes us love it more. Stradwick opened his business two years ago, providing appointment-only advanced barbering to customers in a mile radius. Stradwick made it through eight weeks of his business being closed. But with his mother, wife and one child at higher risk for contracting COVID because of underlying health issues, going back to work still had him concerned. He turned to eBay and paid a premium to purchase a half-face respirator mask and cartridges manufactured by 3M, which he said are usually reserved for medical personnel.
