Personal care businesses feeling the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — While some restaurants and retailers are now offering curbside services, not all businesses can adjust to those types of accommodations.

Businesses specializing in hair and skin care are still allowed to remain open in North Carolina as of Thursday, but they’re feeling impacts of the restrictions put in place due to the coronavirus.

“When you can sit there and look out at Oleander and there’s no traffic going by on one of the busiest streets in Wilmington, [it] definitely [shows] people are a little bit panicked for sure,” Tad’s Barber Shop Owner Tad Thomas said.

Cancellations, closures, and restrictions are causing local businesses to see a smaller number of customers.

“We’re down between 45% and 50% probably in the last three days,” Thomas said.

Thomas says he won’t voluntarily close, but he may cut staff so that barbers working can earn more money per shift with limited clients.

“I’m more worried about my team,” he said. “As a business owner, I can sustain more than they can. I have a very young staff. I try to teach them to manage and be ready financially in case something like this happens.”

As far as the precautions to make sure his business stays germ free, he says he already runs a clean shop, but he can’t be too clean.

“Once a client gets out of the chair we’ll spray the chairs down, we’ll periodically go and spray Lysol on the door handles, the bathroom door handles, the sinks,” Thomas said. “Just anything we can do to try and fend things off.”

Owner of Wilmington Hemp Spa, Taylor Jameson, says the same for her business. Using a medical grade germicide cleanser is a part of her daily routine.

“The spa is already a very clean, sanitized place to be,” Jameson said.

But she’s making sure her clients take those extra steps as well.

“When they walk in they’ll sanitize their hands,” she said. “We’re not allowing more than two people in a treatment room or four people in the spa at a time.”

Jameson emphasized the importance of cancellation policies for businesses like hers, especially during times like this.

“We really appreciate when our clients can give us a 24 hour cancellation notice because we have to take care of our business,” she said. “Given that notice, we are able to add clients that are currently on our waiting list. It makes sure our business is protected in the sense of knowing that if you aren’t coming, we know someone else is coming in your spot.”