LABELLE, Fla. — Barbershops, hair, and nail salons are set to open as Governor DeSantis continues to reopen the state of Florida.
Richard Pope Jr., owner of Rick’s barbershop in LaBelle says his business, like many others, has taken hard-hit, as non-essential businesses have been forced to shut down.
“The struggle’s been real, I mean we all have bills to pay, ” said Richard Pope Jr.
Its been nearly two months with zero income.
Pope believes salons and barbershops should have at least been allowed to offer services to essential workers.
“Are we a true essential? I don’t feel that, but I feel that we should be able to offer service to people that are still working that are still busting their butt, ” said Pope Jr.
Governor DeSantis announced Friday all barbershops, hair, and nail salons are allowed to reopen starting Monday morning.
“We talk to people everyday, we listen to their problems they listen to our problems...sometimes we are a therapist for them, sometimes they are a therapist for us. I’ll tell you right now we’re all missing each other, ” said Richard Pope Jr.
The governor has released guidelines for reopening.
- All customers will be by appointment only.
- Allow at least 15 minutes between the conclusion of an appointment and the beginning of the next appointment for proper disinfecting practices.
- No group appointments are permitted.
- Masks must be worn by all employees while performing personal services.
“ We have each chair 6 feet away from each other, we’ve got rid of outside seating,” said Richard Pope Jr.
“Hand sanitizer, we have gloves, everything you may need, everything gets wiped down, ” said Anthony Cannato.
Dozens of appointments already scheduled for the upcoming week, they say the phones have been ringing off the hook with people eager to get back to looking like their best selves again.
“When you get a haircut, normally the first thing is “man I feel like a million dollars, I feel great I feel like a new person, ” said Pope Jr.
“Just being able to put a smile on someone’s face when they come out of here with a really good hair cut I think its a really good feeling, ” said Joel Rodriguez.
