Hair salon opens at midnight with bookings

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Today is the day Texas barbershop, hair, nail, and tanning salons can reopen, and some local ones are wasting no time.

"I can't wait. It's going to be amazing," said Patty Peeples Busmire, owner of Full Blown Dry Bar in the River Oaks Shopping Center. The beauty salon reopened at 12:01 a.m., the earliest allowed.

"I thought, 'by God, I'm going to do that.' It's been incredibly difficult, you know. We already have very low margins and it's hard to keep a business like this going, being closed for a period of time. It's been a challenge," she said.

Busmire has studied the governor's restrictions and has her safety protocols in place. She took out half the chairs so stylists can social distance. She removed common 'touchpoints' like magazines and added hand sanitizer at all stations.

Stylists and clients will be required to wear face coverings, and no one will be allowed inside until their scheduled appointment.

Thursday, many Texas salons were getting ready to reopen after being closed for six weeks. Luke Neri, the owner of Neri Hari Studio in Pearland, is also opening right after midnight.

"We are all eager to get back to work, see each other and celebrate being able to start earning an income," Neri told ABC13.

Executive Director of Harris County Public Health Dr. Umair Shah says it's okay for people to wait to get haircuts and shaves, too.

"What we want to encourage people to do is just to be smart about it," Shah advised. "If you don't have to go for your haircut tomorrow, if you don't have to go the food establishment tomorrow, if you don't have to go to any of the businesses that are open tomorrow, especially if you are over the age of 65 and have underlying health conditions, then don't. Don't do it. Don't put yourself at risk," Shah advised.

Besides the first appointment at Full Blown Dry Bar at 12:01 a.m., there are appointments scheduled all morning and when they finally call it a day, they know they will be tired.

"Absolutely, but you know what? We've been resting for six weeks. It's time to go," said Busmire.

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