Salons, barbershops reopening for business Monday, but what’s changed?

NORWOOD, Mass. — There was a line outside the door before the barbershop opened at 7 a.m. The owner said he’s been waiting for this day for 10 weeks.

“I couldn’t sleep to see all my nice people," said Gus Eldayaa, owner of Gus’s Barber Shop.

At least a dozen people showed up to Gus’s Barber Shop in Norwood on Monday morning, more than two months after salons and barbershops were ordered to close amid the pandemic.

“I have to get a haircut,” said John Keller, a client. “We’ve been waiting a long time for things to open up the safe way and now they are and hopefully everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”

Operations at Gus’s Barber Shop are different than they were before the pandemic.

“We have a sheet with a table outside. People are going to come in, they’re going to put their name, number, and the barber they prefer. They wait in their car, we call them and they come in,” Eldayaa said.

Massachusetts has laid out strict guidelines for reopening, including:

• Everyone must wear a mask
• Wait outside until your appointment
• Come alone and limit what you bring
• During shampoo, as a courtesy, limit talking
• If you’re sick, reschedule

Eldayaa said his shop is asking clients whether they’re healthy, has a thermometer, and is sanitizing between clients.

Ashley Twitchell, a stylist with Fantastic Sams in Danvers said, "I know it’s going to be great, it’s just going to be getting used to this new way of doing things.

“We have eight stations and there are four of us that work there, so we are only going to be working two at a time so that way we have plenty of space and we can keep everyone distanced.”

Some salons and barbershops will ask customers to sign documents verifying that they are not experiencing symptoms of coronavirus.

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RESOURCES:

- Massachusetts Coronavirus Information

- Boston Coronavirus Information

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