WILLIAMSVILLE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Michael The Salon welcomed customers back to its chairs last week after Gov. Andrew Cuomo shuttered businesses across New York state in late March to control the spread of the coronavirus.
“It’s been a long two and a half months with not being able to come to work,” said co-owner Michael Giambra.
Co-owner Jennifer Giambra, Michael’s wife, initially expected the shutdown to last for a few weeks. But as the weeks dragged on with little hope of reopening in sight, she worried how her business, so heavily dependent on in-person services and transactions, would survive and keep employees aboard.
“It’s gonna mean the difference between staying solvent or not,” she recalled thinking in March and April.
The salon’s staff includes full-time employees, not independent contractors, so staff members were able to collect unemployment while Jennifer Giambra applied for and secured loans from the salon’s bank and Paycheck Protection Program. (Many other small businesses weren’t so lucky and struggled to secure funding before Program funds were exhausted.)
“During the whole time we were closed, we watched the news very carefully, because we wanted to be ready to reopen at any minute,” Jennifer Giambra said.
She took notes on how other retail businesses were preparing to welcome customers and began to formulate Michael The Salon’s reopening plan. The plan included, among other steps:
- Keeping empty chairs between customers on the salon floor
- Expanding hours of operation by 20 hours per week to minimize the number of people in the salon at any given time while still bringing the full staff back to work
- Spacing chairs in the entryway to keep customers and guests separated while waiting for their appointments
- Checking temperatures of all employees and customers when entering the salon
- Requiring all employees and customers to wear masks while in the salon
- Mandating cleanings of each stylist station with approved antiviral cleaners between each customer
- Never reusing capes, towels or smocks on customers until they’ve been freshly laundered
- Establishing special cleanings and protocols for the salon’s HVAC system
The Giambras said their planning prepared them to reopen on schedule once the governor and state advisory board gave the green light two weeks ago.
Mike and Jennifer Giambra have discussed working the additional 20 hours of operation into their regular business hours even after the pandemic ends.
