Visiting reopened gyms, salons in SC next week? Here’s how they’ll be different
Things are going to look a bit different when some South Carolina salons, barber shops, gyms and fitness studios reopen their doors Monday amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. It won’t be an immediate return to business as usual.
A host of new safety guidelines will change the way South Carolinians experience haircuts, workouts and other usually comforting activities that, until recently, have been a part of daily life. And while many people are eager to get back to them, an air of caution may well permeate those businesses that reopen.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 infections continues to rise daily in South Carolina, as does the number of people who have died because of the virus. State officials, including S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster, have said they are concerned that too many people are not wearing face masks or following social distancing guidelines in public to help slow the spread of the virus. And health experts have warned that a too-quick return to pre-pandemic activity levels could result in new waves of infections.
“Reopening, it’s kind of scary,” said Johnny “Holiday” Baez, the owner of Holiday’s Barber Shops in Columbia and West Columbia. “I’m not excited at all. I’m more cautious, I would say. ... I almost want to just tiptoe through that process.”
Can’t afford to wait
Baez didn’t expect things to be this bad. Looking back, he said, he was naive — nonchalant, even — when it came to the severity of the coronavirus crisis.
His two barber shops in Columbia and West Columbia have been closed since April 1. In the weeks since, he’s worried about both keeping his family safe and about finances. He’s received some government loans, but he’ll be playing catch-up for a while, he said.
When the governor announced this week that barber shops could reopen, Baez faced a hard decision, he said.
“I just don’t want to contract the virus and bring it home to my son and wife. Within that, I have to provide for my family,” Baez said. “It’s like, what do you do?”
He’s chosen to reopen his barber shops, taking precautions — shortening his work hours, asking clients to wait in their cars until a chair opens up, not offering any facial hair trims, shifting some barbers from his smaller Huger Street shop to his larger one in West Columbia to allow for more distancing between chairs.
“It’s going to be a process, and I don’t see things going smooth for a while,” he said. “I just think this virus seems like it’s lingering around. It’s almost becoming a new norm.”
Sari Catherine Powell agrees: The coronavirus isn’t going anywhere for a while, and businesses like hers can’t afford to wait around for it. Powell owns Studio Meraki Salon and Apothecary in Ballentine, and she’s eager to reopen her doors.
“We’re losing money, but we’ve already lost enough, so you have to focus on what you can do now. I think it’s better than nothing,” Powell said. “It’s definitely possible to do this in a safe way.”
Hair salons already were held to high cleaning standards before the pandemic, Powell said. That’s one of the reasons she felt they should have been allowed to reopen sooner.
The guidelines for reopening passed down by the governor actually are not “as strict as I would have preferred,” Powell said. So she’s going beyond them with new procedures at her salon, including asking screening questions for clients such as whether they have recently traveled or been in contact with anyone who’s been sick.
Stylists will wear face masks, and the salon will have masks available for clients who do not have their own. Clients will be asked to wait in their cars and text the salon when they arrive, a stylist will open the door to let them in, and they’ll clean their hands immediately upon entering. Each chair and shampoo bowl will be disinfected between appointments.
Her salon has booked up quickly already, and most of her clients have been as eager to get back to the chair as she has, Powell said.
“They’re like family,” she said.
Some salons will not accept walk-ins or any new clients for a while, including Studio Meraki and Wayne Powers Apothecary Salon on Devine Street in Columbia.
Powers’ salon plans to follow similar procedures as Powell’s, including wearing face masks and not allowing clients to wait for their appointments inside the salon.
With the new emphasis on distancing and extra cleaning, both salons are booking far fewer appointments than they usually would. That means a greatly reduced income for the stylists — and greater difficulty securing an appointment with them.
“It’s going to be a rough slog, but we’ll hopefully get through it,” Powers said. “It may be a new normal for all of us, and it may be the way we should do it from now on. I don’t know; we’ll have to see.”
Come back when it’s comfortable
There will be a lot fewer people inside Addie Fairey’s Pure Barre studio in Five Points when it reopens Monday — only about six or seven people per class, compared to 20 to 25 people in each group exercise class before the pandemic struck.
“You know the people that are coming, they’re coming because they want to be there,” said Fairey, who opened her fitness studio in 2012 and closed it a week before McMaster required the shutdown of gyms. “They want to support you. No one really knows right now, and no one has the right answer. But I think that we’re ready. We can’t continue like this.”
Smaller classes are just one of the changes Fairey’s clients will notice when they return to Pure Barre. Classes will have online check-in now, there will be individual client storage containers for easy cleaning, and there are new cleaning procedures for staff and clients. And there will be more than 6 feet of space between each person exercising in the studio, Fairey said.
“If I didn’t feel comfortable opening, I wouldn’t,” she said. “We’re ready for Monday.”
Many of her clients have told her they’re ready, too, she said. But for those who aren’t yet ready to return to the studio — or, for those who might have a hard time snagging a spot in the smaller classes — her Pure Barre studio will continue streaming classes online as it has throughout the gym closure. “I don’t see streaming going anywhere anytime soon,” Fairey said.
Virtual personal training is still an option for clients at Anytime Fitness on Devine Street, too. But many gym members are ready to get back inside, owner Drew Mobley said.
“We know how important the health and well-being, physically and mentally, is for folks, so we want to be mindful of that,” Mobley said. “We want to send a message that we’re committed to your health and safety as our No. 1 priority.”
Gyms, like salons, have always been very strict about cleaning and disinfecting regularly, Mobley said. That’ll be stepped up in this new pandemic environment, and all those usual messages about cleanliness and personal space will be emphasized much more, he said.
Gym staff will be wearing face masks, though clients won’t be required to. The gym will be asking people to limit their workouts to about an hour to help limit capacity. A client might not immediately be able to use their favorite piece of equipment in the gym, as workout machines will be spaced out and some are made unavailable to allow for social distancing. And if someone has to step over a bottle of disinfectant as they walk around, that’ll be a good thing, Mobley said.
Patience will be key as everyone navigates their old environment under new circumstances, he said.
“The reality is, we don’t expect people to flock back at full capacity,” Mobley said. “We do know there are some folks who are real eager to do so. As confidence grows and as things get better ... we do expect more and more people to come back.
“We want them to come back when it’s comfortable, not when they feel pressured.”
This story was originally published May 14, 2020 at 3:34 PM.
