Like so many business owners, Ennett was forced to shut down his shop, 5 Star Cutz, amid coronavirus orders that are limiting business operations.
"It's a struggle mentally, emotionally, and financially when you're in your 40s, and it's basically, like, you lose your job," Ennett said. "[This is] the business that I built from ground up."
Each barber at 5 Star Cutz is a contractor, meaning they pay rent to use Ennett's chairs. Because his business has not been deemed essential under the Dallas County order, Ennett said he now has no source of income.
"Without them paying their chair rent, it makes it [so that] I can't pay the rent for the building," he said. "They're super stressed out because they don't know how they're going to pay their bills."
Ennett said he took issue with the fact that some businesses are allowed to remain in operation in Dallas County under the stay-at-home order while others are not.
"They listed a liquor store as an essential business, and it baffles me," he said. "It's essential for you to buy alcohol, but it's not essential for you to stay well-groomed?"
Ennett said he was ready and willing to make sanitation accommodations if his shop would have been allowed to remain open.
"As barbers, in order for us to get our license, [sanitation is] something that we learn," he said. "Sanitation is key in our in our business and our profession. ... Of course, when we heard about this virus, we stepped it up even more."
Other counties in the North Texas region have adopted orders similar to that of Dallas County. However, Collin County Judge Chris Hill has shied away from determining which nonessential businesses should be required to close.
"I commend Collin County," Ennett said. "[Hill] said, 'Every, every business is essential' because people use their businesses to pay their bills."
Ennett said the business restrictions are placing strains on other barber friends of his.
"The people that it's going to hurt in the end are businesses like mine," he said.
