CULLMAN, Ala. – Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Friday announced the rollout of the next phase of her Safer at Home Order, “Proceeding with Caution,” effective Monday, May 11, 2020. These changes are in effect until May 22, 2020 at 5 p.m. As part of the loosening of restrictions, close-contact service providers, such as barber shops, hair salons, waxing salons, threading salons, nail salons and spas, body art facilities, tattoo services, and massage therapy establishments and services were allowed to reopen, following the following precautions:
- Social distancing. Employees shall not knowingly allow clients or persons accompanying a client to congregate within 6 feet of a person from another household.
- Facial coverings. Each employee shall wear a mask, or other facial covering that covers his or her nostrils and mouth, at all times while providing services within 6 feet of a client.
- Hand sanitation.
- Employees shall wash their hands thoroughly with soap and water immediately before providing services within 6 feet of a client.
- Employees of all close-contact service providers are encouraged—and employees providing nail services or facial services are required—to wear gloves when providing services within 6 feet of a client. To the extent employees wear gloves when providing services, they should use a new pair of gloves for each client and should put them on immediately after washing their hands.
The Tribune reached out to some local area hair salons and barber shops Monday.
Studio 412 Owner Garrett Flanagan shared, “We’ve been overwhelmed by the amount of people that have been supportive as well as overwhelmed by the amount of people we’ve just been trying to get in on our schedules.”
Flanagan said Studio 412 will reopen Wednesday, May 13, 2020.
“We’re waiting until Wednesday to officially reopen to prepare our salon for the orders we need to follow,” he said. “We were not expecting to come back so soon; we were preparing to come back after the 15th, but fortunately and unfortunately, we are coming back sooner, and we are trying our best to prepare with social distancing, constant sanitation and we’re just trying to the best we can do for our clientele.”
Of reopening his doors to the public, he shared, “Hectic. It’s going to be hectic and overwhelming, I’m excited to see my guests, but I’m nervous. I hope everyone will be respectful and understanding. We will not be able to get everyone in immediately. I’ve already seen some backlash on not getting everyone in; some people have been very disrespectful. I’ve had more respectful people than not, but I’ve also seen the rudest, meanest comments and things from people. It really just depends on who you’re talking to, but I’ve had a wonderful response from people who have been waiting. We’re trying our best and we hope that everyone is understanding. We’re very excited to see our people! I was so excited whenever they said we could open up sooner.”
Flanagan said Studio 412 is taking the following precautions:
- Clients can only enter the salon if they have an appointment.
- Social distancing is being followed; all stylists are wearing masks or face coverings.
- Every surface a client comes in contact with (before and after their appointment) will be cleaned and disinfected.
- All commonly touched/used areas (such as door knobs and restrooms) of the salon are being cleaned and disinfected regularly.
Tangles Salon reopened at 8 a.m. Monday morning.
Stylist MiKayla Hadley, along with owners Tiffany Smith and Wanda Huff, shared their perspective: “It was definitely a shock (receiving the OK to open), because we honestly were not expecting to open up with such little notice, so it’s been a rush to get everything ready to see our customers.”
“The biggest difficulty with the restrictions is the inconvenience they bring to our clients and schedules,” said Hadley. “However, we know that keeping these restrictions in place is the best way to protect our amazing clients whom we love so much. We have always strived to provide a clean, safe space for our clients to come and relax, but we are taking extra care with our sanitation and disinfection of common areas and implementation of social distancing between clients.”
She smiled, “You have no idea how overjoyed we are to see our clients face to face again and get back to doing what we love! Things will be very busy for us as we reschedule everyone whose standing appointments were cancelled due to shutting down, not to mention all those who have called for appointments since the news broke of our reopening. We are ready to see everyone again, and hope our clients are patient with us during this reopening. We have been overwhelmed with love and support ever since the day we found out we had to close and we are so thankful to work in such a supportive community. The response to our reopening has also be extremely overwhelming. People can’t wait to come in and we can’t wait to see them! staff is passionate about what we do, so this shut down has been very hard on all of us. Seeing all the excitement from our clients ready to come in warms our hearts!”
Smith and Huff shared requirements for clients to follow for business:
- “We are appointment only at this time, so anyone without an appointment is asked not to enter the building and instead call us to schedule an appointment.” (256-734-7524)
- “We cannot allow clients to bring any extra people, including children, to sit with them during their appointment. Parents are of course allowed to stay inside with their children who are receiving haircuts, however.”
Jayde Day Spa & Salon, normally closed on Mondays before the pandemic, reopening its doors Monday morning.
Owners Kaylie Mosley and Jamie Dellinger said: “So far (it’s going) smoothly; we are trying to take every precaution to keep everyone healthy and safe. The only difficulty is not being able to book more than one person for services. As far as precautions, we are going by the CDC and Governor Ivey’s requests. Everyone is wearing masks, cleaning between each client and making sure we only have one person in at a time.”
As the morning began, the pair predicted the first day would be busy but was excited for its clients, “(It’ll be) Kind of crazy because scheduling is a mess since we weren’t originally supposed to open till next week. Of course, we are so excited to see ‘our family’ again! They are thrilled that we are reopening; they can’t wait to get an appointment.
“Everyone is asked to follow the guidelines by wearing a mask and staying in their car until we call or text them to come in.”
The Men’s Den Grooming Center was set to open at 5 p.m. Monday evening.
“We’ve gotten tons of messages we haven’t been able to respond to; we’re going to be completely slammed,” smiled Owner Kacey Clark. “Everybody is ready, the workers are ready, everybody is ready to get a haircut; we’ve been just waiting on the day to open.”
Of the precautions the Clark and her employees are taking, she said, “We’re wearing masks and we ask customers need to be wearing a mask when coming into the shop and we’re following the 6 feet apart rule. We’re disinfecting and cleaning the shop in between each client. We’re doing everything we can to obey the orders. We appreciate everybody waiting on us and we’ll get to them as soon as we can.”
Clark had a special thank you for her clients: “We just thank you for waiting on us and supporting us through this time and we appreciate the extra tips that have helped get us through!”
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