The phone lines at hair salons across the province have been ringing off the hook ever since Wednesday’s reopening plans were announced.
“We are pretty much booked for 12-hour days. Our schedule is full until the beginning of August,” says Shannon Esau, the owner of Angles Salon on Lilac Street.
It’s been over two-and-a-half months for some since they’ve taken a seat in a barber’s chair.
“It was starting to get very curly, very wavy, very fluffy,” smiled David Walker, who received a fresh cut for the first time in months at Hunter & Gunn on Broadway Saturday morning.
Walker wasn’t the only one chomping at the bit to get back in the chair.
“I think it’s time with the numbers coming down again and everything, I’m not uncomfortable. I know that Jeremy (his barber) has had both doses of the vaccine, I’ve had my first one, so yeah, I’m just happy to be able to do it,” said Brenden Collins following his first haircut at Hunter & Gunn in what he referred to as “way too long.”
“It felt different than a normal haircut because with a normal haircut you would just make the appointment and you would come in, but because you couldn’t do it right, it felt as though it was breaking some kind of barrier,” said Walker.
At Angles Hair Salon on Lilac, the salon may look empty due to the 50 per cent capacity guideline in place, but business is still booming for the first time in over a month.
“We’re just happy to be back at work for the most part,” said Esau.
“A little more warning would have been good. We’ve spent the last two days, 16-hour days, just trying to get people booked in because clients are so excited to be able to come back.”
Especially for Esau’s regular clients like Darrell White.
“We had one booked and we were good to come in the next couple of days and of course with the shut down we missed it. It was very nice of Shannon to put us in on day one,” White said.
Several other clients calling in throughout the last few days weren’t as lucky, but no matter where you get your hair cut, touching up for the summer is once again possible in Manitoba.
“The idea that you could do normal things is certainly promising for a great summer,” Walker smiled.
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