LANSING, Mich. — Dallas Angelosanto and her team at Bliss Salon were in a meeting ten days ago when word came down that Gov. Whitmer had lifted restrictions on salons, allowing them to reopen on June 15.
"All of a sudden the phone started ringing at the salon and my employees that were in my meeting are getting text messages one after the next," Angelosanto says laughing. "So, it was kind of apparent that something had changed."
Angelosanto has been preparing for this day and watching what other salons have done throughout the country. She's had plenty of planning time, nearly three months. Michigan is the last state to reopen salons during the pandemic.
At Bliss, they aren't allowing walk-ins yet. Customers must make an appointment. When customers drive up to the store, they'll wait in their vehicle until their service provider sends them a text telling them that it's time to go in. It eliminates a crowding waiting room and allows the Salon to social distance and not reach occupancy as quickly.The salon will require both customers and stylists to wear masks inside. It's part of a handful of new health precautions the salon will take.
"When our guests get in, we're going to have them clean their hands with hand sanitizer," Angelosanto says. "We have touchless hand sanitizer around the salon and then we're also going to have them disinfect their items too."
There's plenty of disinfecting and cleaning going around at the salon. The place is spotless. Angelosanto is using stronger cleaning agents and is having each hair cape cleaned professionally before it's used again.
All of the new cleaning supplies are pricey, but it's the price to pay for safety and the ability to reopen.
"This peroxide sanitizer is amazing, but it's more expensive," she says. "I've bought masks anywhere that I can find them. Gloves too. We're also using much more disposable stuff than we're used to."
Social distancing is key, but the demand for haircuts is absurdly high right now. Even with increased hours and stylists, Bliss is already booked for this week and it'll be hard to get an appointment next week too. In fact, demand is so high, that Angelosanto rented out the office space next to Bliss in their strip mall location. She already has the place registered and licensed, calling it their 'pop up salon.'
"There was a vacancy so I turned it into a salon," Angelosanto says proudly. "If I can have half my salon here and half my staff in the other space, I can continue to employ everybody the same [way] that I had before this happened."
Right now, Angelosanto is thinking about how they'll stay a cut ahead of the virus and how the salon can treat customers safely and effectively for the next four weeks.
"All of our work is going to be more complicated than it has been," she says. "But we'll get them back on track and it'll all be good."
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