Salon owners play waiting game, brace for another shutdown

SAN FRANCISCO - If a stay-at-home order is triggered in the Bay Area, hair and nail salons and barber shops would be forced to close again.

That's a tough pill to swallow for many business owners who endured months of closure and invested in modifications to re-open.

A KTVU crew visited a hair salon in San Francisco and Bella Nails in San Mateo.

The women who own these salons say they are frustrated and that they've worked hard to make sure they follow  safety guideliens and yet, they will likely have to shut down again.

Vivian Nguyen, owner of Bella Nails, says her business is already down more than 40% compared to pre-pandemic times. 

Nguyen said she's never seen anything like this before. Now she braces for another possible blow: a stay-at-home order triggered by  the rising number of  COVID-19 cases.

"It's definitely devastating, but I have to be sympathetic to the situation right now," Nguyen said.

"We just have to be prepared for when the shutdown's going to be. We have no idea. It's just a waiting game now."

A waiting game the salon owner is familiar with.

Her salon was closed for a total of five months after the first shelter-in-place order in March.

Nguyen says she recently spent $30,000 on an air filtration system and supplies to prevent the spread of TheItems that included COVID-19. 

She bought PPE items including face shielfs, kids' masks, and disinfectants.

In San Francisco's Mission District, the open sign beckons customers to Vanessa's Beauty Salon. It was shut down for six months.

Owner Adela Perez said after the initial rush of customers when she re-opened in September, business has been slow.

"My customers work for hotels, the restaurants, the taquerias. Everybody don't work. They don't have money. They don't come," Perez said. 

The salon owner said she's grateful for the few customers who do come.

Now, she's unsettled by the uncertainty of another pending shutdown.

"I'm very, very sad because my family depends on this place. My kids depend on this money for school," Perez said.  

As for Nguyen, she's relying on a loyal customer base but now preparing for having to call her customers to cancel appointments.

"I'm just praying, just taking one day at a time," said Nguyen.

Both salon owners say December is normally the busiest time of the year because people prepare for parties and other gatherings.

That definitely does not appear to be the case this year.