Vermont hair salons prepare to reopen with special safety restrictions
Two months after the coronavirus emergency mandated the closure of all nonessential businesses, unemployment numbers among hairdressers have soared, and some have still yet to see their checks come in.
As a result, last week’s announcement by Gov. Phil Scott that salons and barber shops can reopen beginning Friday with special safety guidelines seems to have come just in time for many operators.
A lot of Vermont salons are small, locally owned operations where owners and employees alike have been navigating the stresses of being out of work and the uncertainty of what reopening might bring.
For example, business owners like Sonia Lamb of Salon INK in Hinesburg and Don Pearson of Full Spectrum Salon in South Burlington have been facing the stressful financial tensions of filing for unemployment.
“I probably called about a hundred times in three days to get past the busy signal. We just barely were able to file our first claim for unemployment and our businesses were shut down seven or eight weeks ago,” Lamb said. “I’m very disappointed in the way this has been handled. They should be doing more for small businesses than what they’re doing.”
Pearson is similarly frustrated by the level of uncertainty regarding unemployment.
“For me, it’s very confusing because I don’t know the system at all and the number was always busy, so then I emailed, and then I posted on social media about how frustrating it all was until someone finally got back to me,” Pearson said.
The staff at Full Spectrum salon still came into the salon to keep it clean and ready for patrons once the restrictions were finally lifted.
Lamb, who runs Salon INK in her home, has been appreciating the break by turning her energy to her garden, which greets patrons before they enter her home.
“I’ve embraced the slowdown. I’m spending time with my family, making the pathway to the salon look pretty and I still update my Facebook and Instagram and social media all the time, ” Lamb said.
Ines Orgorinac is the founder of Salon Vermont in South Burlington. She describes what she’s faced for the past two months with her team of self-employed stylists.
“Our stylists remain in touch and share ideas as we navigate together all the available resources to self-employed individuals, including the unemployment, SBA loans, PPP, and other options,” Orgorinac said. “Otherwise, we stay busy with our three kids, homeschooling, while my husband works as a nurse at the UVMMC.”
While the stylists at Full Spectrum, Salon INK and Salon Vermont have all resisted selling their professional products as do-it-yourself hair dye kits, they offer patrons alternative options such as gift cards and curbside pickups for less risky products, such as shampoos, gels and conditioners.
“We see our careers as a profession of art and science, which can be highly rewarding. DIY kits appear to me to be more opportunistic and disregarding safety rather than a creative way to deliver services,” Orgorinac said. “That is why salons offering DIY ask for waivers to be signed.”
Lamb has been using her social media presence to inspire patrons to revamp their hairstyles with hair-cutting tutorials.
“I’ve answered questions of my clients on social media, like how to cut your bangs, and I would say a lot of clients are having fun experimenting with this at home,” Lamb said.
Justin Cruz, owner of Salon Cruz in Burlington, has been focused on using technology to both better accommodate safety precautions following the coronavirus emergency and also help run business more efficiently.
“One of the things we are trying to implement is a mandatory online platform for making bookings, really just utilizing technology to ensure there is no contact with money,” Cruz said.
Beyond that, because stylists usually work physically close to customers, Cruz has been thinking of ways to minimize hands-on contact while maintaining the quality of his work.
“We generally offer 15-minute consultation services and it’s usually a very hands-on consultation between the hairstylist and the client, but now we’re experimenting doing it through email. We’re looking into using 360-degree video chats for virtual consultations or even having people send in a video clip of their hair that we can respond to.”
While the salon doors are closed, the wheels have not stopped turning as stylists continue to brainstorm ways to reopen shop as safely as possible and in accordance with guidelines released by the governor. The stylists at Salon Vermont have joined RestartVT, a salon task force that aims to set recommendations on how to reopen salons safely.
“This awesome group is anticipating what potentially will be needed in order to reopen safely. Masks, thermometers, distancing, etc.,” Orgorinac said.
Customers should expect changes like delays in scheduling, staggered appointments and increased distance upon reopening.
In addition to general guidelines for all businesses that have begun to reopen, salons that start seeing clients Friday will have limits on capacity based on their size, rules for distancing within the work space, and limits on contact such as eliminating cash payments and handling retail sales curbside.
Salons won’t be allowed to serve walk-in clients and customers must either be local residents or individuals who have followed quarantine rules after arriving in Vermont, under the new state guidelines.
Like restaurants, the state will also require salons to keep customer logs for 30 days in case they are needed for contact tracing by the Health Department.
“Given the closeness of our work, we will not be able to proceed in the same way we did,” Pearson said. “We have been brushing up on our disinfection processes and also a lot of online styling courses that have been given to us for free by our representatives. We can’t wait to try out what we’ve learned on you all.”
Amidst all the changes, most salons would like to relay the message that they are still around and they are eager to get back to work, even if that means learning some new ways to do their jobs.
Pearson’s message to clients? “We miss you! We love you, we can’t wait to be back in the salon and servicing you. Don’t use box color, don’t do anything crazy that will make our lives crazy when you come back.”
Lamb struck an optimistic note: “We’re coming out of this,” she said. “We might be moving at a slower pace, but we’re coming out of this, and I’m excited.”
