Salons, barbershops reopen in Ariz.
Most are now conforming to social distancing
PHOENIX — Jeff Guebara was among more than a dozen men who arrived before opening Friday at Uptown Barbershop in Phoenix. The Amazon delivery driver normally gets his hair cut every two weeks. This marked his first cut in two months.
“Hair was going into my mouth. I looked like a little Chia Pet,” Guebara said. “I was thinking ‘I got to get in here.’”
He opted not to wear a mask, however, because his beard also needed trimming. But his barber was wearing one.
“I’m confident they’re doing a good job of disinfecting everything,” Guebara said.
Salons and barbershops in Arizona reopened for the first time after a monthlong state-mandated shutdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus. But most looked different in the new age of social distancing. Uptown Barbershop owner Ronnie Yagudaev was using a newly created electronic sign-in system outside. Every client is offered a mask before they sit. The barber stations are now 6 feet apart. With only six stations, Yagudaev was trying to keep the number of total occupants to between 10 and 12.
“It feels different. We’re gonna adapt to the changes — do it safe, do it right,” said Yagudaev, who runs two other locations nearby. It still felt great to be back among customers because “we need them just as much as they need us.”
At nearby Sola Salon Studios, social distancing is a little easier to manage. The space houses 30 one-room suites leased by independent hairstylists, barbers, estheticians and other beauty professionals.
“It already reduces a lot of crowds and it reduces possible groups,” said Christopher Nunez, a barber. “But we’re having everyone come in one at a time.”
In another suite, Sue Brower was blowdrying the hair of her first client of the day. Neither was wearing a mask.
“If they feel I need to have one, I would wear one,” Brower said.
In making his decision on the reopenings, Gov. Doug Ducey cited a downward trajectory in the percentage of positive tests along with declines in hospital visits for coronavirus symptoms.
Retail businesses also can resume full instore sales. Restaurants will be permitted to offer limited dine-in service with precautionary measures starting next week.
Ducey’s current stay-home order is set to expire May 15.