The team at Arboles Barber Shop and Salon in Thousand Oaks is back on the job, after more than two months off due to the coronavirus business shutdown. Like many people in the business, they are excited to be working again, as customers are looking for everything from haircutting to coloring.
Owner Paul Echtekleff says businesses has been booming since the state and Ventura County gave the green light for barbershops, and har salons to reopen.
He says it’s a different world for barber shops and salons, with mandatory masks for staff and customers, and social distancing between hair cutting stations.
Echtekleff says it’s been a rough time financially for the shop and salon, which has been tucked away in a corner of University Shopping in Thousand Oaks for two decades. He says they have applied for government aid for businesses, but that’s still up in the air. The four-person staff did get unemployment dollars.
Echtekleff says business is booming, with people stuck at home due to coronavirus going months without haircuts, and hair styling. He says it’s been interesting, because some people need haircuts for their hair which looks like it’s out of the 1960’s, while others need do-it-yourself cuts fixed.
Brandy Levin is a hair stylist and colorist with Arboles Barber Shop and Salon. She says during the shutdown, she received many anxious calls from women coping with hair emergencies. While she couldn’t do their hair during the crisis, she made up do-it-yourself hair coloring kits which she delivered.
Many barbers and stylists say they are booked solid for weeks, so some people could be sporting hairdos that look like flashbacks from the 70’s and 80’s for some time still.
