Barbershops and salons across the state have had to close their doors due to the coronavirus, and two local owners reported that it’s been a struggle to deal with the effects.
“For me and my shop, we put everything on pause,” said Rob Jenkins, owner of 2.0 Barber Studio.
The modern barbershop, which opened in 2018, was in the middle of expanding after a growing list of clientele, but COVID-19 destroyed that plan.
“I definitely wasn’t ready for this,” Jenkins said. “I worked so hard to get to the point where I can put myself in a better position to just get knocked back down.”
Barbers closed shop in order to comply with social distancing guidelines — and that includes cutting hair at a client’s house. This left uncertainty about how some of the owners would pay rent for their shop once savings dried up.
“I’m not at that point yet (but) I don’t know how long this is going to last either,” said Lionel Bridges, owner of Headquarters Barbershop.
Bridges said with no plan in place when the pandemic hit, he had to let go of a handful of barbers. But, he said he was thankful that rent for the shop was waived for April, which is helping him hang tight.
The economic impact is hurting him, but more than that, Bridges misses his clients.
“It’s one of those things where you work and you really miss being around all the people that come into the shop, and I don’t know what they’re doing as far as getting their hair cut,” he said. “We’ve been there for 15 years, so we get accustomed to people.”
Jenkins said he has been monitoring “the barber world” and it seems everyone in the industry is at a standstill with their fingers crossed that things will get better.
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