Gov. Greg Abbott announced May 5 that salons and barbershops could begin accepting clients earlier than originally planned. As per Gov. Abbott’s planned phased reopening of the state’s economy, salons and barbershops would have opened their doors May 18.
"One of the apprehensions and concerns about opening up barbershops and hair salons and similar types of businesses was the fact that people operating the business as well as the customer—they're very close to each other as that service is provided," Abbott said. "The only safe way that you can go about providing this service while ensuring that we're doing everything possible to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 would be for both the person providing the service and and the customer to wear face masks.”
Read reactions to reopening from business owners in Grapevine, Colleyville and Southlake below.
Renata Salons, Grapevine
Renata Salons owner Lauren Jackson said learning that she would be allowed to open her salon earlier than expected came as a surprise.
“When [Abbott] said 'May 8,' ... we were in the middle of remodeling our salon because we were trying to take advantage of the time that we had,” she said. “We've had to ... rally together. ... A lot of [my team members] were here last night until 8:30 p.m. helping me paint.”
Since closing, Jackson said she has been able to tap into financial aid from government assistance programs.
“Thankfully, we did get the [Payroll Protection Program] loan, so our stylists are [being] paid throughout, but that's not the norm,” she said.
Jackson said she plans to begin offering her services again May 11 once the remodeling is finished. Though her staff will be taking precautions to adhere to Centers for Disease Control guidelines, Jackson said they are ready to get back to work.
“Running from a virus is kind of like running from the wind—you don't see it,” she said.
Renata Salons
224 E. College St., Grapevine
817-488-3444
www.renatasalons.com
Elixir Salon & Day Maker, Colleyville
A staple of the Colleyville business community, Elixir Salon & Day Maker has operated in the city for decades.
Owner Danielle Arnett said closing her doors at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic was unprecedented.
“We've been in business since 1997, and we've never closed our doors,” she said. “To have to close our business that we've been in Colleyville since '97 was just obviously unnerving.”
Though salons and barbershops can offer their services as of May 8, Arnett said she is going to wait until the original May 18 opening day.
“We're not going to open until [the date in] Gov. Abbott's original plan, which we felt was pretty sound and came from science,” she said. “We'll be following all of our [Texas Department of Licensing and Registration] guidelines, and actually, we're doing more than they're requesting.”
For the salon, that looks like requiring all of her staff and guests to wear masks and keeping a 12-foot distance between stylists’ stations. Additionally, the salon will not offer services that could risk exposure between guests and her team members.
“We actually won't be providing any facial services and any face wax services,” she said. “We won't be providing anything that you cannot wear a mask for the guests and for the team member."
Elixir Salon & Day Maker
85 Village Lane, Colleyville
817-427-9700
www.elixirdaymaker.com
Thairapie Salon, Southlake
Owner Lori Nelson said despite shutting her doors at the start of the pandemic, she has stayed connected with her staff at Thairapie Salon in Southlake.
“None of us take time off like that,” Nelson said. “We stay connected through [video conferencing] as best as we could just to walk people through trying to get unemployment or the PPP loan."
Nelson said she used the downtime as an opportunity to get her staff up-to-speed on sanitation best practices.
“We all did sanitation protocol and certification while we were off to just get a refresher and make sure we're hitting every touch point that we can to keep everybody safe,” she said.
Nelson said client feedback has been positive since her decision to reopen May 8.
“We were planning on [the] 18th,” she said. “Gov. Abbott said we could open up today, and so we all just huddled up [and] got our books going. All of our clients are super excited.”
Thairapie Salon
1500 N. Kimball Ave., Southlake
817-999-7558
www.thairapie.com
