Today marks a great day for our industry, as barbershops across the Republic of Ireland have been able to reopen their doors for the first time since lockdown was first imposed back in March.
Clients have finally been able to visit their barbers for some much needed cuts, trims and fades, albeit with new safety measures in place to protect both clients and barbers.
WAHL Artistic Team member and owner of The Asylum Barbershop, Andrea Lynne Raymond said: “It’s been really exciting but nerve-wracking at the same time! We have a good system going for cleaning and sanitising between customers and its worked well so far! We have completely rebuilt one side of the shop – taking away the waiting area and coffee dock and replacing them with more stations. We have extra tools and gowns so we can alternate between customers too. We are doing temperature checks and both customers and barbers have to wear masks. So far, it’s been great, with everyone respecting the policy and an overall great buzz in the shop!”
Meanwhile, Chris O’Riordan of ST4Men, said: “It’s fantastic to finally reopen after being off for so long. We have all our usual measures in place i.e. cleaning and sanitation, but all these measures have been bumped up that bit extra. All stylists are required to wear a face covering and all clients are being asked to wear them during their service. We are also adhering to government guidelines including social distancing and hand washing, to name a few. We are also utilizing a contact tracing app to ensure the safety of our clients and staff. Clients are scanned in and out of waiting seats and our barber chairs so we have a full log of where everyone has been seated and when the seat has been cleaned. It’s a bit different now, being the first day back, but I’m sure after a week it will feel totally normal!”
We are so pleased that the first shops are able to reopen, and we look forward to hearing from England’s barbershops as they return to work on Saturday 4th July.