Nail salons opened for the first time in almost two months today in Central Florida under Governor Ron DeSantis’ phase one recovery plan.
LaShon Lee-Evans - co-owner of The Nail Vault in Winter Park’s Hannibal Square - says she’s already seen several clients since they reopened.
She says they’re getting used to the new normal: Operating part-time and requiring guests wear face masks and wait in their car for their appointment.
“What we don’t want is an influx of people coming in and then we’re back in the same place we were six weeks ago, you know?”
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Lee-Evans says she’s ready to rebuild her business like she did when she opened her salon for the first time.
She says the last six weeks she’s had to rely on savings alone as they didn’t qualify for small business loans and unemployment assistance has been hard to come by.
A few blocks away, Brandi Ghanoo owner of Brandi’s Beauty Boutique in Winter Park says she too is anxious to get clients back in the chair.
Ghanoo says she hasn't had any consistent business since March 1 when guests starting canceling their appoints because of the pandemic.
She's spaced out appointments so there are fewer people in the salon at a time. But she says this doesn't mean her customers will feel comfortable getting a manicure just yet.
“A lot of people are still nervous and are not going to come in. They’re self-quarantining per doctor’s orders.”
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Ghanoo says she will not require her guests to wear face masks or wait in the car for their appointment but will wear gloves and a mask herself.
Barber shops, hair salons, and nail salons opened Monday under an executive order Governor Ron DeSantis passed late Friday afternoon.
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