Salons see wave of customers after reopening following COVID-19 closures

Haircuts, blowouts, and waxing are just some of the services you can finally get again after Governor Ron DeSantis' latest executive order allowed businesses, like hair and nail salons, to reopen Monday.

Elizabeth Bush is co-owner of Paradigm Salon & Spa. She said, “Today is a day of celebration. We are so excited that we are opening, being able to service our guests and just having some sort of normalcy- it feels great.”

After two months of closure Paradigm welcomed back customers. Bush said, “we actually have staff that are just coming back to work and getting over Hurricane Michael, and the devastation of not being paid for weeks, and not knowing when to return to work is very scary.”

Stylists say their line of work is a close contact industry so the next time you get your hair done, things may look a little different.

“You wont see a big crowd in here. No one will be waiting in the waiting areas. We’re asking everyone to stay in their vehicles and we will contact them when the service provider is ready... We won’t have any magazines or anything like that sitting out. There won’t be any type of drink stations or anything like that.”

At Mr. Eddie’s Barber Shop clients waited at least an hour outside on Monday to get their haircuts.

“We got here to start work at 8:30 [a.m.] and there was already probably 12 to 14 cars that were out in the parking lot,” said Angela Blahnik, a barber cosmetologist at Mr. Eddie's.

But even with the wave of customers lined up for a cut, employees are just happy to be back at work.

“We’ve been able to barely keep our heads above water pretty much and so i’m excited to keep the parking lot full,” said Blahnik.

The governor's executive order also encourages salons to disinfect surfaces, tools, and even consider offering unused face masks to clients during their appointments.