The road to reopening hasn't all been smooth sailing. Being in uncharted territory with COVID-19, there have been no shortage of obstacles for salons to overcome — with the cost being the number-one
"The biggest challenge has been the added operational costs coupled with the reduced capacity requirements," said Hong. "We are a high-end manicure-only experiential service, and we take this pandemic very seriously. But as a small business, these precautions are necessary, but costly."
Saunders James added: "It's been five months since we closed which now means Saunders & James has been closed longer than it was open," she said. "[The new regulations we have to follow] means higher costs of supplies with less revenue for salons. This new ratio will cause many salons to close or re-evaluate how they do business."
Obtaining the proper equipment for reopening hasn't been easy either. "I believe the biggest struggle was to gear up with all the essential PPE and cleaning supplies as a lot of this was backordered for quite some time," said Kourtesis.