ELIZABETHTOWN — Restrictions keep coming, and small businesses are getting hammered, with folks out of work and those in the service industry bearing the brunt.
One place it’s hitting hard is in the hair salon and barbershop business, where cuts are being made right and left by patrons and providers alike.
“It’s been hard,” said Danielle Bordeaux. “First you worry about your clients getting a box of color.”
Bordeaux, who has been in the business at Joseph D’s salon in downtown, says this entire situation has had a tremendous impact on her, both personally and professionally.
“The clients come to rely on you,” she said. “We are like a store or anything else.”
Her concern comes for those that are older, who maybe can’t take care of their hair like they are supposed to on their own. For those people their service is just as essential as the grocery store, she said.
“I worry, especially for those older clients,” she said, stressing that the physical task of taking care of one’s hair is more than some can handle. “It’s been hard, and a big adjustment on not working every day, especially when you are loving what you do.”
Worries are also what crosses the mind of Joseph Price-Kinlaw, for whom the salon is named.
“The biggest stressor for me is I worry about my staff, and all the girls that work here,” he said. “Each one of them has a different economic background.”
Bordeaux describes the staff as her family, and says they have been together for a long time, going through divorces, marriages, kids and more.
“Some of them are young, they have kids,” said Price-Kinlaw. “They have not worked, and if they don’t work, they don’t have any money. That’s been a big stressor for me.”
At Chandler’s Backstreet Barber Shop, Chandler Lennon has also been closed since Gov. Roy Cooper’s directive took effect at 5 p.m. March 25.
“I have no money coming in, and I haven’t heard anything about grants that I applied for,” Lennon says.
The governor’s stay at home order is set to expire Friday. If it does, the first of three phases reopening North Carolina could begin. Hair and nail salons, among the many other businesses closed at the same time, are not expected to be permitted to open until the second phase.
That’s at least two weeks after the first phase begins, or roughly two months since the shutdown began.
Price-Kinlaw said he is OK for now because he had a nest egg stored away, but he would rather be working.
“Thank God some of them have their parents, or their boyfriend, or husband or somebody,” he said. “But still, they are so stressed out.”
Bordeaux said she was still stressed out being at home, as the mom of two, ages 6 and 1.
“I have to stay home, and not socialize, and my oldest has school work,” she says. “We work on school work every day from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
She said the schoolbus brings them lunch by everyday, and that has been a major blessing. That school lunch has been amazing, a lifesaver.
“That saves me money with me being out of work,” Bordeaux said.
For her, and many like her across the country, every penny is being counted and recounted, with everything being exceptionally tight.
“I haven’t gotten unemployment yet,” she said. “I have no income whatsoever. I’m going from working everyday, to now cooking three meals a day and schooling, and trying to have time for outside and art projects.
“It’s tough. I can’t wait to get back to work, and not just to get away from the kids. It’s the interaction, and seeing clients, and the socialization.”
And exactly how that interaction is supposed to happen and when is still up for interpretation. Lennon is planning.
“We use hospital grade disinfectant,” Lennon said. “I’m OK with having one person waiting, one in at a time, and having one waiting in a car.”
“I’m not sure. We are just going to have to see how it goes.”
That’s the same attitude of Price-Kinlaw, who said he has been trying to order protective gear ahead of time, so that he can have whatever he needs in place. There may be masks for customers and staff, disposable capes, seat covers and other items that may come into play.
He is concerned with how he is going to have to organize his staff as well. With so many working in the salon it could be a real challenge. They may have to split days or shifts.
Money has been requested through grants, loans, unemployment in numerous situations, but so far no clear solution has happened for the majority.
“I think it’s about like winning the lottery,” said Lennon. “I know everyone can’t get relief.”
The Joseph D salon sits empty, waiting for the staff of 12 to come back after the shutdown.
Joseph Price-Kinlaw said that he is worried about his staff and how they will survive with the loss of wages.
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