Last Friday, veteran hairdresser Van Council officially reopened the doors to his six Van Michael hair salons in Atlanta, Georgia after governor Brian Kemp lifted the statewide shelter-in-place order. Since then, the rest of the hairstyling community in the U.S., has been watching closely, experiencing a cocktail of emotions: fear, curiosity, and eagerness among them. This wasn’t just because Kemp’s decision was something of a wild card (health officials have warned that it may be too soon to loosen restrictions), but because Georgia is now at the forefront of what could be a brand-new world for hair salons post-pandemic. While not considered essential in many countries, people have suddenly realized how much they rely on their salons as a comforting source of self-care and community. And while they aren’t necessarily crowded places, they require intimate interaction—how could they comply with social distancing? The question came up at one of President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus briefings, creating fodder for The Late Show With Stephen Colbert: “Barbers and hairstylists just need to be very creative, like duct taping hair clippers to a couple of yardsticks or just submerging their customers in Barbecide,” the host joked.
But really, what could re-emergence look like in this particular sect of personal care? Since March, Council, an Aveda expert and educator of over 30 years, has been participating in advisory board meetings to determine a plan. The primary rules for the Van Michael salons are as follows: Salon volume will be kept at a minimum of 50% with stylists working at every other station at least six feet apart; Before entry, clients will wait outside and have temperatures checked; Once inside, all stylists will be wearing plastic shields and masks, while clients are required to wear masks and belongings must be limited to a phone and form of payment—no handbags. Regarding services, there will be no blow-drying to avoid an airflow of germs, which will also cut down on in-salon time.
“The first two days we were open, we averaged about 250 clients a day across all the salons” he explains, adding that they’re only seeing returning clients, and that the most popular treatments are regular haircuts and color touch-ups, many of which were for gray roots. In addition to keeping his staff safe, Council wants to be sure they’re not going to get run down in this new, challenging environment. “It’s hard to work in a mask and shield,” he emphasizes of the realities of working with a large sheet of PVC covering the eyes, nose, and mouth. “We have stylists and colorists rotating, working two days on and two days off.” In addition to managing a surplus of requests under extreme circumstances, Council has been receiving a flood of outreach from fellow salon owners across the country. “I probably have had 200 salon owners send me texts or messages through Instagram or Facebook over the last few days, asking ‘Where do we get shields, where did we get hand sanitizer?'” says Council. “I was very nervous and scared to open—all the eyes are on us. But it’s nice to be able to try and set the standard for the industry here in the U.S. because I care about it so much. It’s our job to step up and make this work so that everybody can reopen safely.”
The new safety and health procedures being put forth in Georgia are not without global precedent. As the spread of COVID-19 began to slow in China, where the virus first appeared in Wuhan in late December 2019, some hair salons, barbershops, and other personal care businesses began to reopen in March, with cautionary measures: Stylists wore face masks, hazmat suits, and gloves, implemented new sanitation strategies, limited volume, and spaced out seating in accordance with social distancing mandates. In Japan, where hair salons and barber shops are technically allowed to remain open as they were designated “essential” services during the state of emergency, the approach is similar.”When drawing up a plan, I had the advantage of having partnerships with salons in Tokyo and took cues from what they were doing,” explains Council. One stylist in his network is Masa Honda, owner of the Kanagawa Prefecture’s Masa Aveda salon, which is currently closed, but is navigating its reopening plan by exchanging information about health and sanitation practices with other salons in Japan, as well as those in other countries. “Safety is our number one priority,” explains Honda. “To help clients and staff feel safe, we’ve made a new service routine that accounts for when a client steps into the salon until they leave, including wearing masks, checking their temperature, and doing a short health questionnaire before their visit. Since the salon is a space where many people gather, we will avoid having too many people at the same time, and things that cannot be sterilized, like magazines, will be put away.”
For the Toni & Guy salon in Geneva, Switzerland, which reopened on Monday as the Alpine country is gradually easing restrictions, looking to other countries has been key. “When I first heard that we were going to reopen, the Swiss government did not provide clear guidelines at that moment, so I was worried about the safety of my staff, my clients, and the feasibility of reopening with restrictions,” explains salon manager Olga Tetard. “We are part of a global brand and I knew that when my colleague in China reopened, their restrictions were so heavy—only allowing one client at the time in the salon—it made more sense for them to keep the salon closed longer.” After the Swiss government announced the decision to reopen, Tetard immediately put together internal safety rules, then built on them in weekly Zoom meetings with Toni & Guy partners around the world. “Our China partners who were experiencing the COVID-19 situation before us shared their experiences and have provided amazing support during this crisis,” she says. Eventually, one week before the opening, Swiss hairdressing organization CoiffureSuisse released a safety guide. “What we were putting in place was fully compliant with their proposal, so we were happy with this,” adds Tetard. So far, the salon’s new way of operating—including mandatory face masks, half the capacity of chairs, six feet between each chair, and daily deep cleanings—has been going relatively smoothly—it’s just a matter of managing demand and staying healthy.