Salon operators say their shops have been a cut above
Jen Ursic had been a hairstylist for 17 years before deciding to open her own salon: Industry Hair Co. in South Strabane Township.
She chose a most interesting time to become an entrepreneur – during a surging pandemic. But she knew salon care and had a customer base, and was eager to operate her business in the old Columbia Gas building on Manifold Road.
“I have a very established clientele and they are what gave me the impetus to open,” said Ursic, who launched her enterprise in late October. “(The coronavirus outbreak) didn’t scare me. I think now, more than ever, people want to be taken care of and want to look good.”
Thirty miles to the east, Donald Stalnaker said his downtown Uniontown shop struggled financially during the early months of the outbreak, but has seen a gratifying increase in customer traffic.
“All in all, things are going fairly well,” said the owner of Stalnaker’s Shear Symmetry, a Fayette County seat staple for 37 years.
“A few clients haven’t returned because of some health issues or concerns about the virus. But we’re pretty fortunate. We’re back to where we were (before the pandemic hit Southwestern Pennsylvania).”
The owners of these similar endeavors – one established, the other a newbie – are pleased with how they are now faring in the midst of COVID-19.
They provide services that entail close personal contact, which dissuades some consumers from entering. Yet each salon has striven to provide a socially distanced, safe, clean, welcoming environment following Gov. Tom Wolf’s shutdown of “nonessential” operations in mid-March and eventual reopening on June 5.
It is difficult to gauge how the salon industry is doing overall in Pennsylvania. But while owners and employees at several other area shops declined to be quoted by the Observer-Reporter, they said their establishments are busy.
“Everything has been going really well despite the virus,” Ursic said last week. She admitted that scheduling has been challenging recently, after some clients postponed appointments following Thanksgiving out of virus concerns, but she and her staff have adjusted accordingly.
“We’ve been booked solid, so we haven’t had anywhere to move appointments to. I do what I can for our customers. I stay later or come in on a different day.”
Ursic, a South Strabane resident, has styled hair in the Washington area her entire career. She has a staff of five women who work inside a building in which Industry Hair is the lone tenant. The shop is open every day but Friday and Sunday.
“We specialize in everything hair-related – many hand-tied extensions and lived-in color (procedures).” Employees also do facials, which were banned initially in the green phase, but no fades.
Running a salon, Ursic readily admitted, is in her wheelhouse. “Taking care of people is our No. 1 priority,” she said. “You meet great people and get to make them look good … it’s awesome. I love doing this. Not everybody gets that luxury.”
Although his salon has rebounded, Stalnaker said that it lost $45,000 during the three-month shutdown. Shear Symmetry applied for and received a $25,000 loan through the federal Paycheck Protection Program. The U.S. Small Business Administration administers these loans, which the SBA forgives if a business meets all employee retention criteria and the money is used for eligible expenses over a 24-week period.
Stalnaker said he has been awaiting word on whether his payments have been forgiven.
Demand for Shear Symmetry services accelerated after the Beeson Boulevard shop reopened in June. Stalnaker and his three employees had to tend not only to regular customers eager for styling, but to new ones who were staying away from salons that were not adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols. The ramped-up demand forced the owner to put in 13-hour workdays for several weeks before returning to eight-hour shifts.
“The guidelines are to be taken pretty seriously,” Stalnaker said. He and his staff wipe down the shop, everyone is required to don a mask, styling chairs are 15 feet apart and the waiting area is virtually off-limits.
Shear Symmetry is providing color and eyebrow-waxing services, but no facials, for a growing clientele.
“Things have been good,” the owner said. “As long as things are going as they have, we’ll be at status quo.”