Hundreds of hair salons, barbershops and tattoo shops across the state are reportedly reopening Monday in defiance of statewide health orders, exactly five months after they were forced to close on March 17.
The businesses plan to reopen for indoor services on Monday, and stay open for as long as they can, according to an attorney for salon owners and an owner who is organizing the reopenings.
Across the state, salons and barbershops in counties on the governor’s monitoring list — which currently encompasses all nine Bay Area counties — are allowed to offer limited outdoor services. However, those outdoor services don’t include shampooing or coloring, and some counties, including San Francisco, aren’t allowing the businesses to reopen at all.
“Even if we could work outside, no one wants to get a Brazilian on the street in San Francisco,” said Shayana Flick, who owns two waxing salons in San Francisco.
Flick is the organizer behind Open Safe California, a Facebook group with thousands of members that coordinated Monday’s reopening. Originally, she was planning on opening just her own salons, reWAXation, on Monday, but after seeing posts from struggling salons on social media, she created the group in order to connect those looking for a way to reopen.
Now, hundreds of salons, barbershops and tattoo shops have signed on to a statement pledging to reopen on Monday. Fred Jones, legal counsel for the Professional Beauty Federation of California, estimates that the true number of salons reopening stretches into the thousands.
“We believe a good percentage have reopened clandestinely — through the backdoor, as it were,” Jones said. “Now, we’ll see more reopening their front doors.”
Flick says that she didn’t want to hide her business.
“We’re proud of our establishment, proud of our profession,” Flick said. “To feel like we have to draw curtains and sneak clients through backdoors to survive didn’t feel right.”
Still, salon owners are keeping the list of participating businesses private out of fear of repercussions. The state Board of Barbering & Cosmetology said in a statement that it will “pursue action against their license” for salons and barbershops that “put public health and safety at risk by not following the order.”
“The Board strongly encourages establishments to not defy the public health orders,” the board added.
Businesses that reopen also face potential consequences on a county level. In five Bay Area counties — Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz, Marin and Napa — businesses that violate the health order can now be subject to fines, along with steeper penalties like misdemeanor charges and jail time for business owners not in compliance.
Jones says that the Professional Beauty Federation of California will provide legal support for the salons against “whoever comes after them,” from the state board to public health departments.
“As an association, we’re not endorsing the defiance, but we’re willing to defend the salons that decide they have no other choice to reopen,” Jones said.
After five months, on Monday, Flick decided that her salon was in that position.
“It’s weird to say everyone’s so excited to get back to work, because it’s work, but it’s defeating to be shut down for five months,” Flick said. “We’ve had stylists dealing with depression. To be able to get back and go back to work, to not have to worry about having enough money to pay for rent or food — having that first client walk through the door was really exciting.”
