Merced hair salons, barbers ready to open after getting state OK. Here’s what to expect
Owner Charla Lamberson’s appointment book for Retro Lux Hair Salon & Lounge has been filling up lately.
She’s been reaching out to clients — and talking to potential new customers — following Tuesday’s announcement from Gov. Gavin Newsom that hair salons and barbershops in the state can reopen up for business.
Lamberson, 48, has owned her salon since 2009. She’s spending this week getting ready to operate under the guidelines handed down from the state.
According to Lamberson, her salon will look and operate differently when she opens up Monday.
“We’ve always been very clean and sanitized,” Lamberson said. “We’ll wear masks. We won’t be gathering in here. Our clients will be able to check in with a text from their car. They will wait in their car and we’ll text them when we’re ready for them. We won’t have magazines and we won’t be able to offer any beverages.”
“I like for people when they come in here for it to feel like home. Now it’s going to feel like coming into a doctor’s office,” she said.
Cheng Saephurn, who owns Vanity Boxx on G Street in Merced, said it was her clients who broke the news to her Tuesday that she could reopen her salon. She also hopes to open her salon next week.
“I was like ‘why is my cell phone going crazy?’” Saephurn said. “It was actually my clients who told me I could open up. I’ve tried not to watch the news all the time.”
Merced and Mariposa counties were two of the 47 counties in California that have “self-attested” they have adequate supplies and protocols to reopen more quickly than the rest of the state while still mitigating spread of the coronavirus that causes the respiratory disease COVID-19.
Merced County’s number of coronavirus cases reported since the beginning of the pandemic rose to 278 on Wednesday, including the seventh death due to the coronavirus on Tuesday.
The safety guidelines handed down by the state for hair salons and barbershops include social distancing to the maximum extent possible.
Plus face coverings must be used by workers, employees and customers. Frequent hand washing, regular cleaning and disinfection and training workers on those are other required elements of the COVID-19 prevention plan.
“It’s super exciting to get back to work,” said Martha Souza, who owns Salon Di Capelli in Merced. “I’ve got to get my girls back in. We’ve missed our clients, the camaraderie, it’s like a salon family. It’s going to feel to good to be back in the salon. We get to make people happy again.”
Souza was caught off guard by Newsom’s announcement on Tuesday and expects to open her salon on Monday.
“We were thinking we weren’t going to be able to open until July,” she said. “So we’re painting and redoing the salon to make it fresh and new. So we’re going to get everything done before we reopen.”
Souza says her salon is large enough to have 10 customers in stations that are 6-feet apart. Lamberson is having plastic sheets that will act as barriers between each work station.
“Overall most of our clients are excited to be able to get out and have their hair done,” Saephurn said. “Our clients are aware we have to be careful. They understand we’re in this together. We don’t want to get sick. Everybody is willing to do what it takes to comply with the guidelines.”
“We’re used to sanitizing our tools and our environment so I think that’s one thing we have under our belts. We just have to do a little more and maintain our distance,” she added.
Saephurn says most of the clients she’s talked to are excited to return to the salon. She did say a small percentage of people she’s spoken to aren’t ready to make hair appointments.
Lamberson says there is still a fear of the virus in the back of her mind.
“There’s still that fear that somebody might come in sick,” said Lamberson, who feels she can operate her salon safely. “I don’t want to take something back to my kids at home. I have a father at home (who) is 78 years old. He’s not in the best health. I want to take care of him.”
LIke Saephurn, Lamberson has talked to some clients who have said they want to wait a while before they come in. Others can’t wait for her to open.
“I think people who are afraid of the virus are going to stay home,” she said. “I think people who are still going to work, going to stores, who are going out in public, will be the ones coming to the salon.”
This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
