Silverado Hair Salon owner Perry Vo said his salon is completely booked one week out in appointments. This was unexpected, Vo said.

“They’ve been calling us like crazy,” said Vo, a salon owner of over 10 years. “Obviously the lockdown period has been over a month and a half, and people need haircuts.”

The Cedar Park salon is one of several local salons and barbershops that chose to reopen on May 8 after Gov. Greg Abbott's May 5 announcement. Others are waiting until May 18, which is when other businesses are allowed to reopen.

The Texas Department of Licensing and Regulations released minimum standard health protocols for salon owners on how to safely open.

Vo said his salon will be following these exact guidelines and his clients feel safe.

He said the salon was anticipating a May 18 reopening, but Abbott’s announcement came as a surprise. The salon spent the last few days preparing to reopen by deep-cleaning and ordering safety supplies.

He said the required gloves and masks were hard to come by, but the largest challenge was finding new capes and neck strips for each client to wear during haircuts.

The salon, located at 12800 W. Parmer Lane, Ste. 209, Cedar Park, is limiting the space to two of five stylists at a time, Vo said.

Salons @ 1890 Ranch also reopened May 8. Owner Julie Pearson also said salon openings were a shock. Pearson said the independent owners at the locations were preparing to restart services May 18, so it was a quick turnaround.

After Abbott’s announcement, she said it was an automatic decision to open her four salon locations.

“If my people don’t work, they don’t make money,” Pearson said.

Her hairstylists and cosmetology specialists have had a difficult time securing Paycheck Protection Program or Small Business Administration loans, she said.

Among about 40 individual hair and cosmetology owners at the Cedar Park location, there were mixed decisions to start schedule clients again. She estimates 50% of owners opened May 8, and more will reopen May 18.

Pearson said the salons have been inundated with calls to schedule appointments. Stylists are booked and swamped.

“Everybody I think was excited to get back—both stylists and their customers,” Pearson said.

There are three other Salons @ locations in Round Rock and Pflugerville that also reopened May 8. All locations are following the state guidelines, requiring masks, providing hand sanitizer and asking clients to wait in their car until the stylist is ready.

Independent owners at Salons at 1890 include hairstylists, barbers and estheticians. Currently, microblading services cannot continue as they are related to tattoos.