Corrine Serink, owner of Ardeo Spa Salon at the corner of 4th Avenue and Seymour Street, is getting ready to reopen the salon in mid-May (Image Credit: CFJC Today)

By Chad Klassen

PERSONAL SERVICES COVID-19

Kamloops salon receiving multiple phone calls for hair cuts, preparing for reopening day

May 7, 2020 | 6:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — Personal service businesses like salons are able to reopen as part of the second phase of B.C. economic reopening plan. But already owners are being bombarded with phone calls from clients in desperate need of a trim around the ears.

The phone at Ardeo Spa Salon has been ringing off the hook since Wednesday afternoon with dozens of requests for hair cuts. With the government announcing that salons are part of phase two of the province’s economic reopening plan, meaning they will likely open in the next couple weeks.

“We’re all on group chat at the salon and everybody’s phones just started dinging with people wanting to book appointments,” said owner and operator of Ardeo Corrine Serink.

The reopening plan for salons is a relief for Serink, who says some of her hair stylists were pressured during the shutdown.

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“We’ve been stocked by our clients and were being begged and offered money to do at-home hair cuts. It’s been difficult,” she said.

There is no specific date as to when salons can reopen, so for now Serink is starting the process of sanitizing the entire salon and ensuring the chairs are spaced out appropriately.

“I’ve got supplies coming in as we speak and spray bottles and sanitization, so we’re blessed. We have a controlled environment.”

When you finally book an appointment for that long-awaited hair cut, there will be some strict rules in place. Serink says according to guidance from the Beauty Council of Western Canada, both the customer and hairdresser will have to wear a mask and gloves.

Similar rules will be in place at dentist offices, which are also part of phase two. Clients, of course, will not have to wear masks for dental work, but dentists and dental hygienists will be geared up with as much personal protective equipment they can get their hands on during the pandemic.

“We all know we’re going to need shields. We all know we’re going to need some sort of isolation gowns,” said owner of the Riverside Dental Clinic Dr. Perry Vitoratos. “We’re going to need caps and bouffant, some shoe covers. Those things we’ve all been trying to procure those things. It’s been very difficult.”

Chairs in the waiting area at Riverside Dental are spread out to maintain distance. But it’s not yet known how many clients can be seen on any given day.

“We’re going to find out exactly what going back means, hopefully in the next few days by our licensing board here in British Columbia. They are the ones that are going to regulate how and what we do and how we do it,” said Dr. Vitoratos.

Both services are trying to maintain clean environments as possible to keep people safe and feeling comfortable. But owners are at the peril of the government, which has yet to provide specific reopening dates. It’s keeping them in the dark as they look forward to the next chapter of our new normal.