Salons Open, Take Steps To Combat COVID-19 Spread

Image by Justin Gould / WNY News Now.

App users, tap here to watch video report.

RANDOLPH – Salons and barbershops across Western New York now have the green light to get back to business after the region officially entered phase two of reopening on Tuesday.

In Randolph, Details Salon’s is taking steps to follow state guidelines and protect their customers, however, owner Amber Olrogg says guidelines provided by New York State were not very specific.





“They gave us a list of things that they wanted us to do, if your station’s were not six feet apart they wanted us to put up partitions or divers, but basically we had to write our own safety plan and we did not have to turn it into anybody, we just have to have it at the desk,” explained Olrogg.

Customers must now call when they arrive for appointments prior to entering and the Salon is only able to offer half of its services because of state guidance. New York State requires extra sanitary procedures which Olrogg says normally occur at her business.

Olrogg says that the immediate closure at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak greatly impacted her business, and as a small business owner, she was very concerned about what the future would look like.





















“We’ve only been here a year,” said Olrogg. “The first year of business is so important and it is so easy to get behind on things, luckily that did not happen, but I was scared, this is my whole life.”

Olrogg hoped to hold an anniversary party, but now with gathering restrictions is not able to.

Even with reopening, Details Salon is still only working at half capacity, with some services like nail care and waxing on hold. Additionally, a new employee hired at the beginning of the outbreak, hasn’t been able to work because of the service restrictions.

Olrogg says throughout the pandemic she kept in touch with customers on social media, many stayed faithful to her service, and refrained from trying the craft themselves.









“I’m so happy they are not cutting their own hair,” said Olrogg. “It’s nice that they are waiting, they waited for me, it’s nice, those are my people.”

Olrogg hopes that that a ‘new normal’ would be defined soon so that she can bring back her part-time worker and get her business back to full capacity.

Locally, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce is working to help salon’s and barbershops understand the new requirements. The chamber released a 16 paged template for salons to follow. A copy of the template is posted here.

 

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.