A look at how Montreal hair salons and spas will operate once they reopen

Salon Deauville is undergoing some major changes.

On Wednesday, Plexiglas was being installed in the salon almost everywhere you looked.

“We’re gonna have some in the colour department, we’re gonna have some in the manicure stations so everybody feels safe,” said owner Claudia Iacono.

Though the salon has been at a standstill for about two months amid the coronavirus pandemic, Iacono has been busy preparing to reopen.

She’s ordered tons of protective equipment and has implemented new rules.

“Clients will have to wait outside in their cars and when they’re ready for their appointment, they’ll come in and get washed,” she said.

Iacono says the new measures have been costly and with no end to the pandemic in sight, she says she may have to increase the salon’s prices.

“We’re gonna have no choice because if this continues and we’re gonna have to offer people masks and the Purell, the soaps and all this — it’s gonna be expensive,” she said.

Over at West Spa in the West Island, Anik and Nathalie Bedard are going through a similar situation.

They’re trying to navigate how they’ll offer esthetics services while keeping everyone safe.

Plexiglas will be installed in between the nail and pedicure stations and they’ll ask their clients to purchase a nail kit from them — one that will be reused for the client every time they visit.

“We’re not gonna be reusing the same (nail) files,” said Nathalie Bedard, owner of West Spa. “Even if we disinfect it. We still have to make sure that every client has a new file, buffer and cuticle cutter, and so on.”

Bedard says the spa was always a place for women and men to relax and get pampered, often with their friends or in groups — something that won’t be allowed, at least not in the near future.

“It’ll be different, the experience,” said Bedard. “It’ll be more, ‘I need to get my service done and I need to leave.'”