Florida barbers, salon stylists reopen for first time in nearly two months

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Barber shops, nail and hair salons opened their doors Monday for the first time in nearly two months.

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Friday that the businesses could open after many owners asked to be included in phase one of the state’s reopening.

Barbers and stylists are cautious of the reopening.

Read: Hair salons, barber shops, nail salons reopening in Florida: Here’s what businesses can do

“Opening up is a beautiful thing, but it doesn’t guarantee that a lot of us will continue to have a business in the next few days,” said J. Henry of J. Henry’s Barber Shop.

After being closed for about two months the majority of personal services businesses are in the red.

Initially, hair salons, nail salons and barber shops weren’t part of phase one of reopening the state.

It took a sit down with Gov. DeSantis and Orange County Mayor Demings to change that, but some businesses have still decided to remain closed.

Read: Looking ahead: What Phase 2, 3 could look like when reopening

Channel 9 spoke with a nail stylist who said because of the way COVID-19 is spread, she doesn’t want to jeopardize her or her clients’ heath.

“I don’t think it’s fair to expose them and their families to that for a beauty service, I just don’t think it’s worth it,” said Tara Seay.

Seay said she’s thinking of reopening sometime in June.

Businesses providing personal services will be doing business by appointment only as suggested by the governor.

Harvey Sencion, owner of Bigote Men’s Grooming, said he’s changed many policies to make reopening possible, including increased sanitation and disinfecting efforts.

“We’ve shut down our waiting area and we’ve removed all magazines so any literature anything that you can touch has been removed,” Sencion said.

He said business was slow Monday, but bookings are full for the remainder of the week.

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