MAGNOLIA — RHETT GENTRY
Banner-News
It has been two months since Columbia County’s salons and barber shops have opened to a community that had overgrown hair and at-home hair cuts. The Banner-News reached out to salons and barber shops in the area to hear their stories about tackling the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis.
“It’s gradually getting back to normal,” said Kyle Weeks, who operates and owns the College Barber Shop. He said during his first three days of being open again, a flood of customers came in. It’s slowed down some during the following months, with customers coming in more naturally.
Weeks said while he was unable to perform his services, he scrounged around for odd jobs, finding himself mowing yards and doing construction on the side. He also spoke about how the federal government programs were not quick in their efforts to help him and his business.
“I kept listening and checking on the CARES (Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act) package, but it was slow and arduous in coming,” said Weeks, mentioning that receipt of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) had issues as well.
He said that the PUA website kept crashing for him, and after two weeks of attempting to use the resource, he was finally able to complete his application. Weeks was dismayed to find out that even though he put in the date he was unemployed, the PUA begins at the time he applied. He mentioned that there has been no news on whether the service would be offering any back pay.
CARES Act assistance was also hard to come by for local barber Timothy Maxie, who owns and operates Maxie Barber Shop. He said he did not get unemployment due to his shop opening just prior to the COVID-19 crisis. He mentioned that a lot of barbers deserved the CARES Act funds and he was happy to see them receive it.
“I was one of the unfortunate barbers who got nothing, but I’m still trying to make it,” said Maxie.
Maxie also spoke about all the efforts he is making to ensure his shop is a safe environment for his customers. He uses PPE, takes temperatures when customers enter the shop, operates by appointments only and cleans everything when he finishes cutting a customer’s hair. He said that all of these efforts also make it safer for him to come home.
“I have kids with asthma,” said Maxie, stating that his children were one of his largest concerns. He said he hopes the efforts he makes at and away from work will keep them safe.
Along with their own personal standards of cleanliness, salon and barber shop owners must follow strict guidelines to remain open during this time. Misty Langley of the Bella Magnolia Salon & Spa said when customers come in, they have to fill out paperwork, have their temperatures taken and come to the chair with their masks on.
“Normally, stylists are able to work someone else in between,” said Langley, “We aren’t allowed to do that anymore.”
She mentioned that while the Bella Magnolia Salon & Spa is still busy, the Arkansas Department of Health guidelines has made the process inconvenient. She said shops weren’t allowed to have walk-ins when they first opened back up, and that it was especially hard for the stylists who do not have a full clientele to make money without the walk-ins.
On the brighter side, many of the local barbers have seen the funny side of the quarantine, with some clients coming in with hair in need of repair after their at-home haircuts turned into a disaster.
Weeks said that one young man, who he would not name, had a mullet that he was very proud of, which his mother accidentally cut off when attempting to trim it. Weeks mentioned that he has noticed a rise in mullets amongst young men, trimming at least five in the first week out of quarantine.
“The mullet is coming back apparently,” laughed Weeks.