Customers Line Up For Needed Hair Cuts, Masked And Distanced

BOSTON — Barbershops and hair salons in Massachusetts were met with a flood of demand Monday as they reopened after more than two months under a state closure order.

While they are operating under stringent new rules — distancing, masks, extra cleaning — hair care providers who spoke to Patch said they have had an enthusiastic response to reopening.

At Primos II Barber Shop in Brighton, Boston, patrons lined up on the sidewalk to wait their turns. Some were regular Primos clients, returning after months getting shaggy, while others had sought out the first barber to reopen in the neighborhood.

>>Hair Care, Other Services Can Resume May 25: MA Reopening

At the nearby Sanela Salon, owner Sanela Catovic is already booked with customers for 12 hours a for the next three weeks.

Other barbers could not spare a minute to say how busy they were — they were too busy.

Diego Lopez, 24, waited for his turn at Primos, having not had a haircut since February. Usually, he goes to a barber further from home roughly once a month. He did not want to take the train to his usual barber because of the virus, so when he saw Primos was open on the first day possible, he got in line.

"My hair's really difficult — it gets kind of hard to manage," Lopez said. "I thought about shaving my head, but I really didn't want to."

Lopez said he'd been careful about social distancing and staying inside during the lockdown, so he felt safe going to the barber. It helped that the shop was following state guidelines for reopening hair care services, like wearing masks and requiring social distancing.

Matheus Joaczeiro, 13, who has been going to Primos regularly for four years, said his hair was getting "really bad" after a four-month gap between cuts.

"I have to take really long showers to clean all my hair," he complained.

Sanela isn't opening until Tuesday, Catovic said, but she has spent the last week making preparations and scheduling the coming weeks.

"I've never in my life realized how important hair is to people," Catovic said. "My phone has been glued to my hand."

The demand has been overwhelming from both male and female clients, she said. Making matters more difficult is the need for distancing: the six stylists at the shop will work in two shifts to prevent crowding.

When the salon opens, customers will be asked to wait in their cars or on the sidewalk, and they have to prepay over the phone. The receptionist will call each customer in turn, and all customers must wear masks. Hand sanitizer will be provided for those not wearing gloves.

Smocks, capes and tools will be washed between uses, and no beverages will be available, Catovic said.

The masks and other coronavirus prevention methods will not be a big obstacle to the hair styling, Catovic predicted.

"Cutting is not a problem; oloring is not a problem," she said. "It's really getting people in that's the problem."

Even with the massive demand, there is no way Sanela Salon and other hair care places will make up for nine weeks being closed, Catovic said.

"Eventually we'll recover, I hope, but it's never going to be okay," she said. "I feel bad for some restaurants, other small businesses, that are never going to recover. I'm fortunate."

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