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07/07/2020 12:00 AMWhen barber shops and beauty salons, originally included in Connecticut’s Phase I re-opening on May 20, were instructed to delay opening until June 1, some business owners were frustrated and disappointed. But the delay was partly in response to owners and employees saying they needed more time to prepare, according to Governor Ned Lamont.
Services provided by barbers require them to be in close proximity to their customers, making it a higher-risk interaction than purchasing groceries. And the requirements in Connecticut are stringent. In addition to personal protective equipment, they include sanitizing between customers, shutting down indoor waiting areas, and doing away with shared equipment among employees.
For barber shops, getting the word out to regular customers presented unique challenges. Unlike hair salons, barber shops tend to rely on walk-ins, rather than on appointments, so they don’t tend to have rosters of customers’ contact information. And because the state now requires they operate by appointment only, those systems had to be set up.
“I was only walk-ins prior to [the COVID-19 shutdown] and had been for years,” said Jennifer Scott, owner of J.P.’s Barber Shop in Westbrook. In addition to setting up a new appointment program, she posted updates on her website and on Facebook to notify customers that J.P.’s was re-opening and that appointments were necessary.
“It was a lot of behind-the-scenes work making it easy for the customers,” she said.
Because Scott is currently the only barber at J.P.’s, it wasn’t necessary to make huge changes to the physical space, such as setting up acrylic barriers between work stations, she explained. But she’s had to shut down her waiting room and do away with amenities like coffee, as well as books and magazines. Only one customer is permitted in the shop at a time, but a customer can bring his family in with him.
“A family is allowed to come in but other customers...have to wait outside until their time,” she said. “We have to go around and clean everything that they touch” after they leave. “There’s more of a cleaning process. We sanitize everything—door knobs and everything.” Customers are asked to reschedule if they’ve had any symptoms within the past 24 hours, and each person’s temperature is taken before they enter the shop, according to Scott.
Mike Mawdsley, owner of Mike’s Barber Shop in Old Saybrook, set up an outdoor waiting area in front of the shop, with chairs spaced sufficiently apart from each other.
“I have a bench and signs on the chairs that say ‘Walk-ins Wait Here,’” he said. Alternatively, customers can wait in their cars until it’s time for their haircut. Services are limited to haircuts; beard trimming is not permitted, as masks have to be worn at all times.
Mawdsley purchased “touchless everything that you could,” he said. “Hand sanitizer, soap in the bathroom, trash cans. I bought a couple of machines with UV light that we put our equipment in to sanitize it.”
Mawdsley also purchased 100 new capes and launders them throughout the day.
“I had to put in a washer and dryer and a whole laundry area,” he said. “I had to spend quite a bit of money to start back up, but I’m happy to do it because I want to be open and I need to work and I want to keep everyone safe,” he said.
Communicating the re-opening was through Facebook and the business’s website, as well as a sign that Mawdsley installed in front of the store.
“A lot of people are local so they could just drive by,” he said. Initially the sign had the re-opening date of May 20, but when the delay was announced on May 18, the date was pasted over with a large question mark.
And yet so many calls came in, Mawdsley’s wife had to help with the scheduling.
“Everyone needed a haircut really bad,” he said. “We were a pretty busy shop before but it was quite wild with the amount of people” who called once they knew the shop was re-opening.
“I think a lot of people felt safe enough” coming back, he continued. “And they knew I was taking the proper precautions, so they didn’t have any issue with that.
“I have a lot of older clients, so I know some of them have held back,” he said. “A couple of people have said they might wait another few weeks. But I know a lot of people are happy to get back out and have something seem a little normal for them.”
At J.P.’s, Scott has had to get used to cutting hair around a mask—if someone comes in wearing a bandanna on his face, she’ll offer another mask that makes that job easier. And some of her elderly clients come in to the barber shop with oxygen tanks.
“I’m busy all day,” she said. “I feel like I do twice the amount of work. I have to take the extra time to do the sanitization.” Although they use the same cleaning products they always used, Scott and her staff clean the shop far more often throughout the day.
But customers have cooperated with the new protocols and are happy to get back to a routine, she said.
“I think the...clients have been very happy to see us come back as we are to see them,” she said. “You build a long relationship with these customers over the years and it’s just nice to see them. You catch up with their families and their lives and everything else they’ve been doing.”
Mawdsley is optimistic about his business’s future.
“I think we’ll be fine,” he said. “There are a lot of additional costs to start up, but once we get over that hump we’ll be fine unless we have another shut down.
“I have a lot of loyal clients and we’ve gotten a lot of new clients through this,” he continued. “I’m hopeful that...we’ll get back to where we need to be.”