ORLANDO, Fla. – Hair salons, nail salons and barbershops, which were originally not allowed to open their doors under the governor’s phase one plan of reopening the state, will now be able to start accepting customers once again come Monday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the news in a tweet featuring a video of J Henry’s Barber Shop owner J. Henry.
“We are ready to get back to work and make some money,” Henry said from his shop on Church Street in downtown Orlando. “But getting back to work, we want to be safe and continue wearing our gloves, wearing masks, book by appointments and continue to keep the community safe.”
Here’s a major announcement from my friend J Henry, owner of J Henry’s Barber Shop in downtown Orlando. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/KnXFaMRVns
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) May 8, 2020
Henry is a member of Orange County’s Economic Recovery Task Force and has pushed for opening certain personal service businesses that he and others believe can safely operate.
Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings got behind the push as well, writing a letter to the governor last week asking that those establishments be allowed to open.
After receiving the letter, DeSantis attended a meeting at an Orange County hair salon Saturday to discuss the potential for reopening.
At that point, he said he was consulting with experts and would make a decision in the future.
[RELATED COVERAGE: Orange County small businesses can pick up free masks, hand sanitizer beginning Monday]
“I think at the end of the day, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when with the salons,” Desantis said last week. “We just want to be judicious, consult with medical folks and make sure it’s safety first.”
Monday marked the first day of the first phase of reopening the state’s economy, which has been shuttered for weeks due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The governor allowed restaurants and retailers to open with limited capacity but initially asked that nail salons, hair salons and barbershops remain closed.
Those services, along with gyms, which are also still closed in Florida, were given the green light under President Donald Trump’s plan for reopening the country.
The governor has not yet provided guidelines on how salons and barbershops should operate come next week.