By Aaron Allen
The Seattle Medium
Last week, businesses in King County like beauty shops, barber shops and restaurants were allowed to re-open under certain guidelines issued by the Washington State Department of Health and Gov. Jay Inslee in order to help control the spread of COVID-19 in a hybrid phase of re-opening the state’s economy commonly referred to by officials as phase 1.5.
As businesses adjust and prepare for opening their doors, they are both excited and cautious as some prepare for a backlog of appointments as loyal customers and new ones emerge from the COVID lockdown looking to be pampered.
Under phase 1.5, businesses are allowed to operate as long as they follow protocols, guidelines and procedures implemented by the health department to guard against the spread of COVID-19. These guidelines include businesses operating at no more than 25% of their capacity. For businesses like Beautiful Awakening Massage in Tukwila, the issue is not one of capacity, but, according to owner Jamila Johnson, is more about educating clients about necessary changes in the way they do business because of the virus.
“A big part of the adjustment is being upfront initially with clients that are scheduling, and being very vocal regarding the specific guidelines of my office,” says Johnson, whose business is centered around an intimate and hands on approach to her customer base. “So, initially when a client books they are going to receive a confirmation that states wearing a mask during your service [is mandatory], also upon entering the building if they’re exhibiting signs or any sort of illness we’ll have to reschedule their appointment at a later time, and they’ll have to go through a very thorough intake [process].”
According to the Washington State Health Department, businesses must provide their employees and prepare their work environments with the necessary Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). In addition, they must implement policies to maintain proper social distancing and schedule their work days in the effort to maintain occupancy of their business below 25 percent of their total capacity.
The transition for businesses to re-open has been a welcomed outcome after a two-month lockdown that put a lot of businesses in jeopardy of closing their doors for good. But some businesses survived the lockdown and are doing what they can to comply with the health department and the CDC to get back to business as usual.
Despite the influx/surge of customers to many local businesses, the financial impact of COVID-19 has taken a toll on their business, and many are open but are still trying to navigate past the restrictions on their business that are currently in place.
Jameel Shabazz, owner of J. Styles Barbershop in Seattle, says that he simply had to weather the storm until his shop was allowed to re-open last week,
“I applied for a couple of grants where I got a small amount of grant money,” says Shabazz. “But I did not try for the loans because of the lack of information out there and education regarding the loan and the word “loan” can be a little bit scary.”
One of the major hurdles for business owners are the expenses associated with complying with the current guidelines. Many of the businesses that are re-opening are personal care stores, barbershops, massage and beauty salons, all of these are hands-on occupations so adhering to health guidelines is very important.
Businesses like J Styles Barbershop and Ambiance Beauty Bar in Kent are now required to serve customers by appointment only. Ambiance Beauty Bar, due to having to maintain a six-foot distance between client chairs, had to renovate and reconfigure their seating area to comply with the 25 percent capacity restrictions and ask that customers wait in their cars until their appointment is scheduled to begin. Some businesses will also be required to take the temperature of their clients as they enter the building.
Adhering to all of the restrictions, according to Angela Williams owner of Ambiance Beauty Bar, comes with a cost associated with it. Williams says she and her staff have been diligently preparing to re-open and have restructured the way they do business in order to abide by the rules, and keep their employees, contractors and customers healthy and safe.
“We don’t want to take any shortcuts because we don’t want anyone to get sick,” says Williams. “Because if people continue to get sick, we are going to be shut down again, so let’s all play by the rules.”
