Idaho's Return to Work - Phase 2 ( Tentative Open Date is May 16th )
This is a blog post that I’m writing with a half smile and a great deal of skepticism.
It’s like your favorite band putting out a record with a shitty b-side. Sure, the main tracks will sing the song of, ”Hooray! We get to go back to work!” But as soon as you turn it over, it’s nothing but inner monologue screaming, “WATCH IT GET PUSHED BACK AGAIN!!!”
That’s the pessimist in me, but the optimist knows that the medical (not political) community, and the experts within that community will make the right recommendations for the safety of the general public, and I can say that we are 400% behind those recommendations.
Today’s announcement from Governor Brad Little outlined the return to work phases for Idaho, and salons / barbershops will be part of Phase 2. Providing that all of the efforts in Phase 1 do not create a sudden increase in outbreak, we are excited to get back into the shop to start offering services on 05/16/20.
Things will be different, and anyone in the hair industry who wants to get back to work and pretend that it’s business as usual is a fool. It is the responsibility of barbershop and salon owners to embrace the reality of a new normal, make adequate modifications to their process, and offer transparency to the public to continue being both reputable and trustworthy.
I want to spend a moment outlining what that will look like at The Barber Story.
<10 people is our new maximum capacity
I have always loved having my shop full. I love seeing four barbers with four full chairs, and even more people waiting for their turn. I have always loved when someone across the room chimes in on the conversation I’m having with my client. I love being challenged on my views because it allows me to see other perspectives and either change or solidify my own. Those are the little things that, I feel, make the difference between a real barbershop and a place you simply go to get your haircut.
The reality is, that can’t happen in our current world. The more bodies we have in the shop, the less we can control the opportunities for cross-contact.
Being trained as one of the critical responders while I worked at Maximus, I take this very seriously. When you add in my years of scheduling management across multiple organizations, I worked with my own team to come up with a solution to mitigate the amount of bodies that come into the shop.
First off, we will no longer be working the standard shop hours. We have all adopted personal schedules that stagger our weekends to ensure there are never more than 3 barbers working on any given day.4/7 of the week will only staff 2 barbers
Saturday & Sunday will staff 3 barbers to accommodate those who work traditional hours and cannot make an appointment on weekdays.
We have incorporated early shifts and late shifts to reduce overlap.
These efforts alone reduce barbers working right next to one another by more than half, while still offering full time hours to each of the barbers.
Schedules
Chris - 08:00-17:00 - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
Chase - 09:00-18:00 - Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Liz - 12:00-21:00 - Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Saturday
Jimbo - 12:00-21:00 - Sunday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Next on the list will be the waiting area. We have removed the waiting chairs from the shop, and we ask that you get comfy in your car while your barber finishes up and prepares the space for you. This is in an effort to both reduce the amount of people in the shop, as well as give us one less thing that we need to sanitize during our newly structured cleaning plan. Speaking of which;
Creating a new standard of cleanliness
Most barbershops operate with high volume. At the end of the service, we spray off our tools quickly with clippercide and move onto the next one. With the context of the current world, this method proves to be unacceptable. While our approach towards a solution may look a little unorthodox within the hair industry, we hope that they are recognized by others as an effective manner to keep our doors open during a time that has no real guidebook.
To begin, we have all agreed to extend our standard haircut times from 45 minutes to a full hour. Additionally, all waves of appointments will begin at the top of the hour, every hour. The additional 15 minutes added onto each service is not a time for our clients to hang out, but instead, it will be a time that allows the barbers to deep clean the shop before a new wave of clients begin their appointments. If you read the side of any bottle of cleaning solution, it says that the solution needs to sit for at least 10 minutes before the effect has taken place. This is a practical way that we can ensure that you are walking into a clean space, every time you visit us, and also give us an opportunity to have a quick breather between every service. This does not mean that you have leeway with arriving late. Late appointments will still fall under the same cancellation & rescheduling policy that we have always had.PPE will be a part of the new normal at The Barber Story. Masks, nitrile gloves, and a few gallons of hand sanitizer have been ordered for the barbers, and it will be an expectation that all barbers utilize them with every service. Masks are most effective when both parties use them, so we ask that you wear a cloth mask during your haircut. For the vast majority of haircutting services, elastic bands that sit behind your ear are very simple to work around, and the benefit of your effort will extend to your personal barber, the other barbers in the shop, as well as every client that enters our establishment. Due to the fact that masks cannot be worn during beard grooming services, some barbers have opted to temporarily suspend offering facial grooming services until a vaccine can be rapidly deployed throughout all Idaho communities. Please check with your barber’s personal service menu to see what services are available.
Cash will no longer be a preferred method of payment. Please download Venmo, Square Cash, Apple Pay, or have a credit/debit card ready when you are paying for your service.
We understand that change is difficult, but it is our responsibility to maintain the safety of our community while also ensuring that we keep ourselves and our families protected.
On a more personal note, I hope to see other shop owners in my industry shadow my efforts. The only way that we can improve a system is by challenging one another to be better than what we already are. Complacency is the villain to all, and the quickest route to losing relevance. I have every plan on keeping up to date with all efforts to protect the public, and will make changes as quickly as they can be allowed.
One final note.
Our GoFundMe campaign is both keeping the shop afloat, and is providing us with the necessary equipment to implement these changes. Regardless of how the 2020 Best of Boise competition ends, I already know we have the best clients in the world, because you are all the reason that we will be able to continue doing the things we love. This is truly humbling, and our thanks and appreciation go out to you all.
I hope my next update comes from an open shop, but until then, be well and stay safe.
-Chris