For one business sector, a flow of customers flooded back after the two-month closure due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Hair care services were among those allowed to reopen back when the province began the first phase of its relaunch strategy — and the impact was immediate.
Cara Hoffman and her crew at Cutting Edge Hair Design and Salon were among the businesses that saw a spike in requests for bookings as it opened back up on May 14, after ensuring they had everything ready to go.
“Business has been very, very busy. When we opened, there were three of us that came back to have a mock ‘soft opening’ and we were flooded,” Hoffman said.
“We sure felt the love and everyone has been so patient about waiting to get in.”
There were a few things that had to be done, such as ensuring adequate sanitizing procedures were in place — which include complete cleaning of all stations, surfaces and tools before each appointment, cleaning of capes and towels after each use plus using hospital-grade sanitizer.
However, the most important change for everyone has been wearing masks.
“Our guidelines state that if there is any hair washing or blow drying, everyone has to be masked. So, to ensure everyone’s safety, we require everyone to be masked,” she said.
“Ninety-nine per cent of our customers have been absolutely amazing. The biggest thing for us is that we understand that everyone is under so much pressure and stress. So, we just treat everyone with the love and respect they deserve and we expect that same courtesy back.”
The salon, as of June 12 when Phase II launched, is back to offering all of its other personal services such as pedicures, manicures, waxing and tanning.
“I can’t even tell you the amount of ladies that were excited to tame the eyebrows and toe nails,” she said.
“Our elderly clientele was especially appreciative for the pedicures.”
Hoffman added there haven’t been any staff losses due to the situation and it has been amazing to get back to work.
“We love our clients so much. We never truly realized the impact that we have on people, but the response from the community has been absolutely amazing,” she said.
“Everyone is so understanding and appreciative of us and I feel like the future is looking bright and squeaky clean.”