Hair stylists excited but anxious as Texas salons reopen with coronavirus precautions
Gov. Greg Abbott’s announcement this week that salons could reopen caught Arlington stylist Kaye Wade by surprise and now she’s stuck in “a Catch 22” — reopen and risk exposing herself and her family to the novel coronavirus or stay closed and struggle to put food on the table.
Wade is ready to get back to work, but she won’t start cutting hair this weekend as Abbott has allowed. She needs at least a week to clean her station, Lady Hairroin Glam Boutique, at Sola Salon Studios and rebuild her clientele, she said.
The governor had said the state would wait two weeks to assess the spread of the novel coronavirus before moving to the second phase of his reopening plan. Instead on Tuesday the governor allowed barbershops and hair, nail, tanning and cosmetology salons to reopen Friday — a week earlier than originally planned. Gyms may open next week.
Wade said she feels like she has little choice about whether to open. She provides for a 10-year-old son, but hasn’t worked since March 22. Her request for unemployment was just processed earlier this month, but a federal relief loan she requested in April has yet to come through.
The governor’s announcement has left Wade scrambling to call former clients and wondering what she’ll do with her son. In the past, if she couldn’t find day care, he would just go to work with her. But coronavirus guidelines say only the stylist and client can be in the studio at one time.
“I would love to go back to work and make my full salary, absolutely. I lived very comfortably,” she said. “But now it’s like, am I compromising my health and my family’s health?”
At Novak Hair Studios in downtown Fort Worth, founder Ben Novak Hudgins has been preparing to reopen since the studio closed seven weeks ago, he said. Hair stylists are licensed by the state and must routinely renew their education in sanitation, making salons a naturally clean place, he said.
About 80 independent stylists rent space in the 10,000 square foot salon, but Hudgins said around 50 will return to work this weekend. Customers will check in through a text message system that will alert them about when they can come into the building. Everyone will be required to wear masks and temperatures will be taken, he said.
Hudgins said clients should a expect a hospital-like environment in terms of sanitation and social distancing. He’s hopeful this will become the new normal for clean standards in hair studios as society adjusts to life amid the outbreak.
“As we begin searching for some sense of normalcy we have to be overly precautious,” he said.
Alicia Dunegan, who operates Styles by Alicia, said she was also surprised by the early opening. She described the mood of the roughly 30 stylists that work out of Katour’s Salon as a mix of excited and anxious.
Now that the state has opened salons and barbershops, she wondered if assistance for unemployed stylists would go away. Rental for a salon station costs hundreds of dollars a week and many salons may begin charging rent again, meaning stylists will have to work or risk losing their spot.
Both stylists and clients at Katour’s, in the Waterside shopping center off Bryant Irvin Road, will be required to wear masks, she said. Chairs will be cleaned before and after someone sits down and people will be asked to wait in their cars. Temperatures will be checked before anyone enters the building.
“There is some nervousness but I think we all want to do our jobs,” Dunegan said. “We have close relationships with these people. They’re not just numbers, they’re close friends who I’ve known for years and years.”
It’s unclear if clientele will come back, and even if they do, stylists are limited in how many people they can see a day. Before the outbreak, some haircuts could be doubled booked, increasing the stylist’s work load and income. But now they can see only one person at a time.
Both Wade and Dunegan said they heard mixed messages from clients. Some are eager to get a hair cut, but others are more apprehensive about the close contact.
Wade remained positive the clients would come back, eventually.
“I know once this is all over it’ll be business as usual, but right now it’s a little scary,” she said.
This story was originally published May 7, 2020 at 12:19 PM.
