Barbershops, hair salons in Fresno, Clovis begin to reopen after coronavirus shutdown
After being closed for about 10 weeks, Sarah Rhee and her husband, who own Peaceful Barbershop in Clovis, were flooded with calls early Wednesday from many of their regular customers needing haircuts.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced barbershops and hair salons were allowed to reopen, and Rhee said she had been glued to the TV for the announcement.
Following the announcement, several Fresno and Clovis barbershops and salons resumed business, but with modifications to keep customers safe from the coronavirus, which caused the shutdowns.
In mid-March, California officials issued a shelter-in-place to keep residents from leaving their homes and potentially spreading or becoming infected with COVID-19.
Rhee, who has owned Peaceful Barbershop for 15 years, said business was slowing down before the coronavirus shutdown. But by noon Wednesday, she had already logged seven customers on a notebook at her front desk.
She said one customer told her that he felt “like a new man” after his haircut.
Thousands of businesses the state deemed “non-essential” were shut down as part of the order, including barbershops and salons across the state. Only 47 counties out of the state’s 58 were allowed to resume barbershop operations.
They were only allowed to resume business because counties “self-attested” that they had enough protocols and supplies in place to ensure safety for customers. In the San Joaquin Valley, Tulare County is among the few counties not yet allowed to reopen some of its non-essential businesses due to its higher infection rate.
Still, not all barbershops and salons opened up immediately after the governor’s announcement. And business was slow for some that did reopen Wednesday, owners said.
Those who opened made changes to comply with distancing requirements. And the customers wore face masks.
Tye Featherstone, owner and founder of the Great American Barbershop franchise, reopened six of his eight locations Wednesday.
He said it was a last-minute reopening since the state quickly updated its order, but he and his staff had already put a plan in place to operate once the state gave the green light.
He said business hours were shortened since his workers were spread out to different locations. And he said now that he’s open, he’s also hiring.
“It was pretty crazy,” Featherstone said. “Everybody wants a haircut. You’ve got limited staff, such late notice ... we weren’t expecting to open for months.”
Featherstone said he had about 2,500 people on his website Wednesday morning before the site crashed. But he said his staff was able to meet the demand.
With the reopening, comes new rules and constraints, too.
Featherstone said he’s no longer doing beard trimmings. A cleaning crew was still cleaning his locations while they were closed, he said, and he expects to continue increased sanitation.
Barbers will likely conduct their hair treatments differently by eliminating things that would require facing clients, including shaves and shampoos.
The governor also asked business owners to get rid of paper products, which means customers can only pay with credit or debit cards.
For safety, business owners are also limiting seating in their waiting areas. Featherstone said his customers would wait in their cars or outside the shops until their turn for a hair cut.
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 2:32 PM.
