Need a haircut soon? Or maybe your roots are getting dark and not looking great on all those Zoom chats?
Three weeks into a mandatory salon shutdown in most states, some clients are wondering if they can get a cut and color. And stylists, who are going into their fourth week with no income, are grappling with whether to go "off the grid" and cut hair.
"We are all struggling," said salon owner Barbara Naylor. "We have no way of making any income." Her appointment books are frozen in time on March 16.
She and the other stylists hope to see unemployment benefits promised as part of the stimulus. Independent workers are now eligible for unemployment, but state websites are jittery, and no one at the salon has seen a dime yet.
Stylist Mary Beth Jacobs worries about her bills but also worries about her customers, some of whom she has known for decades.
"I totally miss our clients," she said. "They are our family."
Customers requesting home hair cuts
Employees here are getting calls from clients asking if they can get an in-home cut and color or visit the stylist's home.
Naylor said that comes with big risks.
"We are not allowed to do services outside the salon or in-home or in their homes," she said. If someone reports them to the state, "our licenses could be revoked."
An equally big concern is their health.
"We cannot go to homes and be that close to people," Naylor said. "You cannot do hair from six feet away."
Jacobs is also telling clients not to come to her home.
"I don't want them to come to my house, 'cause you don't know where they have been and what they are carrying," she said.
Naylor realizes many stylists are taking the risk and going to client homes because they desperately need cash.
Here, it hasn't come to that yet. She has been providing her employees with some aid. Still, she's hoping, as their sign says optimistically, that they "will be back soon."
How you can help
Want to help your salon stay in business?
Visit their website, or email them, and purchase a gift card for future use. That gives them a quick cash infusion.
And see if you can send a tip to your long-term stylist. They will appreciate it, and you don't waste your money.
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