Dallas salon owners face tough decision about opening Friday under new guidelines

DALLAS - Some salon owners are in a mad rush to make sure they can open Friday while providing safety features that meet the state's criteria. Others say they're not going to open just yet.

The news of salons reopening came as a surprise.

The governor was expected to announce more reopenings on May 18, which is what several salon owners were planning on. Some owners are prepared and ready. Others are not.

Ashley Tran is the owner of Verbena Nail Salon in Uptown Dallas. She is one salon owner who is choosing not to reopen Friday.

“We just started phase one May 1, and now we’re going to open May 8? It’s just not possible,” she said. “How do we keep our staff safe? How do we keep our clients safe?”

Without answers, Tran says her nail technicians, who are furloughed, will remain out of work for a ninth week.

“In my gut, I just couldn’t bring myself to say we’re going to open,” she said.

Tran is struggling, like most small business owners are, to come up with solutions and cash and do it all fast.

“You see all the plexiglass with holes going through it? I can’t imagine my salon looking like that,” Tran said. “I’m like, is that really the reality of it? And I’m like, is there a better way?”

Nearby in Oak Lawn, Kasia Baran opened up the schedule at Dallash for appointments for lashes, brows and tans.

“That got filled probably within an hour and a half,” she said.

The salon has private rooms. Baran’s staff already wears masks.

“Adding more hand sanitizers in the front desk and bathrooms and asking clients to wait in the car,” she said.

Like Tran, some larger chain salons are also choosing not to reopen yet.

In a statement to FOX 4, TONI&GUY USA President Samantha Finley says the goal is to reopen as early as May 15, stating “our focus now is to consult with our team and hairdressers to ensure they are properly prepared. This includes barbicide certification, finalizing proper sanitation... [and] ensuring we have enough PPE for our employees and customers.”

“I can’t make those decisions on a whim and say, ‘We’re safe.’ We don’t know,” Tran said. “I’m going to spend the next few weeks or week. I don’t know how fast I can process all this.”