MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Thousands of people have signed a petition demanding hair salons, nail salons and barber shops reopen.
A local Tennessee lawmaker is working with people in the profession to pitch a new plan to the governor.
It’s been a long three weeks since Wanda Stubbs was forced to temporarily close her beauty salon as part of efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
“It’s been hard not having any income coming in and not knowing when income will come in,” she said.
It’s why Stubbs and others who own or work at beauty and barber shops and nail salons are trying to come up with a plan. Many of them discussed ideas Wednesday night with Tennessee Rep. Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis).
“I would like to see them be able to get back to work,” Rep. Parkinson said.
So together, they talked about implementing strict guidelines in order to reopen, which included taking appointments only, every work station being six feet apart, employees wearing masks and gloves, stores closing by 8:30 p.m. and requiring daily professional and client temperature checks.
They also laid out possible violations, like fines, probation and losing licenses if shops continue to violate those guidelines.
Rep. Parkinson said he’s going to pitch the plan to Gov. Bill Lee by the end of the week.
“I think it’s good those members of the industry agreed to basically self-police themselves,” he said.
“People are going to start losing their homes, man,” said Derek Mitchell, who works at High Point Barber Shop. “People are going to start going broke, and things not going to be good.”
Mitchell said he’d consider working under those guidelines, considering sanitation is already second nature.
“One thing they teach us in barber and cosmetology school is sanitation, disinfecting and cleanliness,” he said. “That’s our number one priority.”
There are other efforts underway to get hair and nail shops back open. A petition started by a Memphis barber has almost 2,700 signatures.
Others in the profession are keeping their hopes up, too.
Rep. Parkinson said if you have any ideas, send him an email at rep.antonio.parkinson@capitol.tn.gov.
WREG will provide updates when Parkinson pitches his plan to the governor and if he gets a response.