What It's Really Like For Nail-Salon Owners and Employees Reopening Amid COVID-19

"It has been a long road waiting for when we can reopen our doors, but we had spent a few months preparing and our team has been very hands-on in the entire process," Yiota Kourtesis, director of people and store operations at Chillhouse, a New York City-based nail salon, told POPSUGAR. Michelle Saunders James, owner of Saunders & James Nail Care in Oakland, CA, agreed: "I feel as though I've been trying to prepare to open since March 16. There have been so many starts and stops with the country, state, and county, it has my head spinning."

For Saunders James, her nail salon hasn't been able to reopen just yet, but they have recently received more information from the state as to what will be expected when they do. "Even though we don't have a date to reopen, I'm still preparing just in case."

In New York City, nail salons reopened just recently in phase three. "When we first closed in mid-March, we had no idea we would be only reopening just two weeks ago, on Monday, July 6," said Jane Hong, the CEO of New York City-based nail salon Paintbox. Leaning on other businesses has been key in this learning process for them. "We participate in virtual mixers with other businesses in the Madison Ave community where we learn the best practices for salons and luxury retail along the Upper East Side."

The new safety measures and regulations put out by the CDC and OSHA that nail salons have to comply with are extensive. Plastic shields have been put in place between the manicurists and customers, walk-in appointments have been suspended, there's more physical distance between stations, mandatory face masks are required to be worn by all employees and clients, employee temperature checks will occur regularly, and much more. Waivers and questionnaires will also likely be required of customers prior to their nail appointment, which can be completed digitally.

Hygiene is already a top priority for many beauty salons, but it will be even more top of mind amid COVID-19. "Our hygienic standards have always been at the highest bar possible, so that will continue, in addition to even more deep cleaning and constant wiping down of services between appointments with sanitizing wipes," Hong said. The same goes for Chillhouse: "Our facility is properly cleaned, sanitized, disinfected before the start, in between every single client, and at the closing of each day using only hospital-grade disinfectants, and we are strictly following the local state health department's procedures," Kourtesis said.

At Paintbox, lookbooks are a signature part of the experience, but that has also had to change. "Our lookbooks are [now] takeaway postcards, and our product displays are only touched by our coordinators and artists," Hong said.

Some nail technicians are also undergoing additional training to ensure they're up to date with all of the latest safety protocols. "All our nail artists, Chill Hosts, and service providers are all Barbicide certified," Kourtesis said. This is an online educational course for members of the salon, spa, and barbershop industry.

The road to reopening hasn't all been smooth sailing. Being in uncharted territory with COVID-19, there have been no shortage of obstacles for salons to overcome — with the cost being the biggest one.

"The biggest challenge has been the added operational costs coupled with the reduced capacity requirements," Hong said. "We are a high-end manicure-only experiential service, and we take this pandemic very seriously. But as a small business, these precautions are necessary but costly."

Saunders James added: "It's been five months since we closed, which now means Saunders & James has been closed longer than it was open," she said. "[The new regulations we have to follow] means higher costs of supplies with less revenue for salons. This new ratio will cause many salons to close or reevaluate how they do business."

Obtaining the proper equipment for reopening hasn't been easy, either. "I believe the biggest struggle was to gear up with all the essential PPE and cleaning supplies, as a lot of this was backordered for quite some time," Kourtesis said.

Despite many nail salons being permitted to resume business, the day-to-day for employees is very different from what they were used to. Still, many technicians and business owners couldn't wait to get back. "We have adjusted our expectations and realize this is going to be a longer-term challenge for our business up until a vaccine is made available," Hong said. "Not being naive about the situation is empowering, but it also requires fiscal austerity for a small business like ours as we look to come out of this year really, with a long-term runway ahead."

"I have to admit that reopening was a whirlwind of emotions," Kourtesis said of Chillhouse's reopening day on July 15. The salon, which is widely known as a space where people can come, grab a drink at the cafe, and work on their laptop, can no longer permit guests to linger in the space, but prebooked nail appointments are back in action. "We've missed our clients and our team, and overall we're all happy to be back at Chillhouse."

Despite the challenges that they've had to conquer over the last few months, most are hopeful their salons and clients will be able to evolve and adapt to the new "normal."

"We hope that New Yorkers find their way back to the city — a place like this feeds off the energy of its people, particularly small businesses and the hospitality space. We need our customers and fans more than ever," Hong said.