Getting one’s nails done at Belles Nail Bar in Starkville is no longer as simple as sitting down and letting a stylist go to work.
Before entering the salon, which reopened at 9 a.m. Monday after being closed since March 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic, clients must wear a protective mask, fill out a consent form and be screened for the virus.
They are then subjected to what owner Aaron Weiss called a three-step sanitation process: squirting sanitizer onto their hands before signing in, washing their arms up to their elbows with warm or hot water and antibacterial soap for at least a minute and having their hands sprayed with rubbing alcohol before ever touching the surface of the table.
Despite the exhaustive precautions, 60 to 70 customers flocked to Belles when it reopened Monday, and appointment times for the rest of the week are disappearing fast as Weiss works to handle the intense demand. He said the sanitation procedures are unique among salons in the area and proved to be a big reason why the salon saw such a sizable demand in its first day back.
“The reason they want to come to us is because they know that we went above and beyond to put their safety first,” Weiss said.
As soon as Gov. Tate Reeves announced Friday afternoon that salons, barbershops and gyms in Mississippi could reopen starting at 8 a.m. Monday subject to strict sanitizing and social distancing regulations, Weiss and his pregnant wife, Kimmee Nguyen, got to work setting up. On Saturday, they and another employee laid things out, spacing tables six feet apart to adhere to the restrictions; on Sunday, Weiss worked from 10 a.m. to 3 a.m. Monday wiring electricity and setting everything up for an opening six hours later.
“Honestly, I kind of wish the governor would have given us more time,” Weiss said.
Still, he said the sanitation precautions he took assuaged the minds of his 15 workers and hundreds of eager clients alike.
“The safety of the customers and my employees is the No. 1 thing right now,” Weiss said. “If I didn’t feel comfortable and safe opening, knowing that I could give them a 100 percent safe atmosphere, I wouldn’t have opened.”
Across the Golden Triangle on Monday, the consensus among customers and employees of newly reopened businesses were they felt safe.
On Monday afternoon, Sam McDevitt, who graduated from Mississippi State earlier this month, pulled up to Liberty Bell Barber Shop on Main Street in Starkville for his first (official) haircut since February.
“I cut it myself — tried to, at least — while they were closed,” said McDevitt, who usually visits the barbershop once every two months.
According to the restrictions Reeves laid out, customers at barbershops and salons must wear a mask unless it interferes with the service they’re receiving. McDevitt brought a mask Monday, but he left it in his car.
“I didn’t know how I would get my hair cut with a mask on,” said McDevitt, who said he felt perfectly safe heading into the shop, mask or not.
At Golden Glow Tanning Salon in Columbus, which opened Monday after a seven-week closure, employee Kayla King said business volume was slightly higher than normal. About 50 people typically visit per day, King said, and 45 to 50 had already come in by 4:15 p.m. — before the after-work rush the salon typically sees between 5 p.m. and closing at 7:30 p.m.
King said nearly seven of every 10 customers she spoke with Monday mentioned their excitement that the salon had reopened.
“Everybody that came in was like, ‘I’m so glad y’all are open,'” King said.
Gyms ‘back in the swing of things’
At 5:30 a.m. Monday, when Beth Jeffers reopened The Fitness Factor in Columbus, one member was already waiting at the door.
Jeffers said eight or nine people in all took part in the gym’s 5:30 class, getting in a workout before work for the first time in nearly two months.
“They’re really excited to have this back,” Jeffers told The Dispatch.
Gyms and fitness centers, allowed to reopen Monday morning in addition to barbershops and salons, faced similar restrictions. Under Reeves’ guidelines, gyms had to space exercise machines six feet apart, limit themselves to 30 percent of maximum occupancy, deep clean floors daily and close by 10 p.m., among other regulations.
But that was OK with Jeffers, who spent the past eight weeks painting, cleaning out closets and heavily sanitizing to prepare The Fitness Factor for its eventual reopening. The gym also offered video classes on Facebook and YouTube during its closure.
“We used it as a time to get better, and I think our staff’s ready to come back and see everybody,” she said.
Jeffers, who got the city’s permission to open at 5:30, saw a steady flow of clientele in the morning. By 11, as many as 40 members had filled out a screening form ensuring they showed no symptoms of the virus before entering.
Heather Clardy of Columbus, who worked on strength training Monday with dumbbells and a TRX suspension trap, said returning to the gym helped her find focus that running or riding a bike on her own couldn’t offer.
“I’ve been waiting for the day I could come back,” Clardy said. “It keeps me motivated, whereas being at home I don’t stay very motivated.”
Clardy, who has been a member at The Fitness Factor for a little more than five years, said she harbored no fears about returning Monday. She said the gym’s sanitation and social distancing precautions — tape on the floor marking off six feet of space for each exerciser; caution tape over alternating treadmills and elliptical trainers; and rags and sanitizing sprays for members to wipe down equipment after use — would hopefully be enough to ease safety concerns for others.
“I haven’t been too nervous to go out and do stuff, but I know some people are, and so I think that they’ve made it to where pretty much anyone can come in and feel comfortable,” Clardy said.
Theo DeRosa reports on Mississippi State sports for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter at @Theo_DeRosa.
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