Salons, Manufacturing And Churches Excited To Reopen
BOSTON (CBS) -- The owners of Salon Eva Michelle eagerly returned to their Newbury Street salon Monday to start mapping out which chairs they could seat clients in when they reopen on May 25.
Co-owner Eva Mustafai said the moment she heard Gov. Charlie Baker's announcement that hair salons could reopen on May 25 was very emotional. "It was very exciting but very nervewracking," she said.
The store owners will have to sanitize between clients, collect payment over the phone to avoid person-to-person contact and keep people separated by 6 feet at all times. Other guidelines include having customers wear masks.
The salon can reopen as a part of Governor Baker's Phase 1 reopening plan announced on Monday, May 18.
"It's going to be so different, you know?" co-owner Michelle Lee said. "Even learning to cut hair with masks behind the ears...I want to make sure that we are safe. I want to make sure that our staff is safe and we are doing everything we can do but also the clients being responsible."
Still, the pair is grateful for the opportunity to reopen after two months of closed doors. They described it as a "nightmare."
"Up and down," Mustafai said. "We have had days that we cried and then days that we were happy."
While all can reopen next Monday, certain manufacturing businesses and places of worship were given the green light to reopen right away.
Employees are back to work at QRST's screen printing in Somerville. The manufacturing company was allowed to reopen immediately, and Owner Peter Rinnig is very grateful.
"I didn't know what would happen after I laid people off," Rinnig said. "I didn't know if we were going to close. If I'd be out of business after 19 years."
Places of worship can also reopen immediately, but some are choosing to take it slow. At Greater Faith Worship Center in Hyde Park, Pastor Frederick Wilson is sticking with worship calls and Zoom meetings until the first Sunday in June when he plans to reopen at 40% capacity.
"We miss fellowship, the touch of each other, that sort of thing," he said. "But I'm not complaining about that. This soon shall pass."
