Columbus Mayor Robert Smith agreed Saturday to permit the city’s barbershops, salons, gyms and fitness centers — previously ordered closed due to the coronavirus pandemic — to reopen at 8 a.m. Monday as long as they adhere to sanitation protocols and social distancing guidelines.
The city closed those “non-essential” businesses on March 21 to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Gov. Tate Reeves, through executive order, closed those businesses statewide on April 3.
But on Friday, after Reeves announced the businesses could reopen with certain restrictions in place, Smith issued a statement keeping them closed until the “Restart Columbus” subcommittees could meet at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Monday.
But a sizable public outcry Friday night changed the mayor’s mind, and he convened the subcommittees via video conference Saturday to inform business owners they could reopen, per the governor’s order, at 8 a.m. Monday under the new restrictions.
“After I was bombarded with emails and all last night as to why we couldn’t go ahead and do it now so we could be available on Monday morning to open up, I reconsidered,” Smith said at Saturday’s meeting of the subcommittee on barbershops and salons.
The decision took away the feeling some local business owners had that the rug was being pulled out from under them when Smith first announced he would keep their shops closed just hours after Reeves gave them the go-ahead.
Dawn Clausen, owner of Dawn’s 45 Barbershop, said she “just kind of stood there in disbelief” as she learned of Smith’s decision Friday evening.
“If the governor, surrounded by advisers and kept abreast of the most up-to-date information constantly, OKs for me to open up shop, it should be good enough for our mayor,” Clausen told The Dispatch on Friday. “Every day that goes by that we’re not open, it’s in detriment to us and taxpayers. We need to get Columbus going again.”
Smith will allow her and fellow business owners to do that, but not without the considerable restrictions Reeves set in place. Barbershops and salons must deep clean and sanitize daily, close their waiting areas to ensure customers wait safely in their car and screen clients to make sure they aren’t spreading the disease.
Smith emphasized Saturday that the city won’t be strictly enforcing those policies and that he trusts business owners to take the precautions themselves.
“We’re not coming out there to check to make sure that your businesses have been deep-cleaned and sanitized,” he said. “I would just hope and expect that the ones that own salons and barbershops would take care of this on your own.”
Gyms and fitness centers will be asked to follow similar precautions before reopening Monday. Reeves’ guidelines state that gyms must limit customers to 30 percent of maximum occupancy, space exercise machines six feet apart and screen customers for illness before entering.
Jake Reeves, owner of Relentless Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness on Highway 45, said he will be ready to reopen Monday. He has had the gym fully sanitized five or six times, has spaced out punching bags throughout the building and will ensure customers sanitize their equipment after use.
After Relentless was closed for nearly two months, Jake Reeves expressed concern Friday evening about the gym’s financial situation should closure continue another week or two. But he said Saturday that Smith’s decision to let businesses reopen will assuage those fears.
“It’s been sort of an emotional roller coaster since the middle of March with all this going on,” he said. “Just knowing that we can get back to business and do what we do and serve our clients is a huge relief.”
Uncertainty about reopening
In Saturday’s subcommittee meetings, plenty of local business owners voiced concerns about the safety of reopening Monday.
Michael Larry of Clippers on Main Street was one of them, saying he had been unable to find Lysol or protective face masks in stores.
“If we open prematurely and we can’t have the adequate supplies, we still aren’t gonna be safe with the customers,” Larry said.
He pointed to the virtual nature of Saturday’s meeting as one reason he doesn’t feel ready to open up soon.
“Why couldn’t we meet at a shop and have this meeting?” Larry asked. “It’s not safe. I’m ready to go to work, but is it safe to go to work? No.”
Karletta Harris, owner of Transformations by Karletta, isn’t sure if she feels comfortable opening her salon’s doors again in the next couple weeks.
“If we decide to open up, I think that the decision really should be up to the hairdressers,” Harris told The Dispatch on Friday.
Should case numbers in the area spike in the coming week, Harris won’t hesitate to remain closed even longer if she feels it’s prudent to avoid spreading the virus — or contracting it herself and possibly passing it to her children.
“I want to do everything to where I feel safe as well as my clients,” she said.
Like Larry, Harris needs more Lysol for her salon, and she doesn’t have enough rubbing alcohol to sustain herself. Those necessary supplies, she said Saturday, tend to be “sporadic” in their availability.
When several other business owners expressed fear of reopening Monday — Janice Harris-Young of Janice’s House of Glamour & Spa said she won’t open until May 20 — Smith stressed the date Gov. Reeves set is optional.
“If you don’t want to open up Monday morning, you don’t have to open up Monday morning,” Smith said.
Jimmy Woodruff, executive director of the Frank P. Phillips YMCA, won’t be. At the subcommittee meeting on gyms, Woodruff said the Y isn’t ready to get into gear just yet and will be reopening Wednesday.
“We just want to make sure we do it right,” Woodruff said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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