Hairdressers face ‘mammoth task’
The first Aucklanders through the doors of a hair salon in three months said Oit’s¯ a treat to get a fresh do, just in time for summer.
Auckland hairdressers anticipated a rush of customers as they opened their salon doors yesterday morning, for the first time since August.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Monday that Auckland hairdressers could reopen, providing their clients book appointments and use their My Vaccine Pass certificates, as a trial before the certificates are used more widely.
No walk-ins are allowed, all staff must be vaccinated, and the salons must operate under alert level 2 restrictions.
Hussein Al Salman, owner of Dr Scissors Barber and Beauty Salon in rewa, said not being able to work for so long had been ‘‘really hard’’, especially without there being a reopening date to look forward to.
He started cutting hair as soon he was able at 11.59pm on Wednesday, much like a barbershop in Birkenhead, which had its first client at 12.01am on May 14, 2020, after seven weeks of lockdown.
Al Salman had received ‘‘thousands of calls’’ from people eager for a fresh ’do, and was fully booked from 11.59pm on Wednesday to 3am yesterday, after which he slept before reopening with three staff members at 7am.
‘‘I think people love the experience of coming at midnight and to get a little bit of the rush.
‘‘They just want to get their hair cut, go to sleep and go [to work] fresh in the morning.’’
Steph Hosking, the co-owner of Luxe & Duke hairdressers in Grey Lynn and Wynyard Quarter, anticipated the next few weeks would be a ‘‘crazy time’’ with the rush to get through three months’ worth of missed appointments so close to Christmas.
‘‘It’s going to be a mammoth task.’’