Michigan barbershops and hair salons were allowed to reopen June 15. | Pixabay
Michigan barbershops and hair salons were allowed to reopen June 15. | Pixabay
Barber shops and beauty salons were among the last businesses allowed to open in Michigan even though barbers are highly trained to understand how to create hygienic environments.
While Michigan barbers were denied an opportunity to use their 1,800-plus hours of training to create a sanitary environment for customers, the nation was in turmoil following the death of George Floyd at the knee of a Minneapolis police officer who used improper constraint. While this tragedy did not happen in this state, Michigan’s basic training curriculum for police officers is only 594 hours, approximately three times less than the training Michigan barbers receive.
The Police Officers Association of Michigan and the Michigan Association of Beauty Professionals did not respond to requests for comment.
In May a coalition of more than 350 barber shop, spas, and salon facilities unveiled an eight part reopening plan in a letter urging Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to lift the ban.
“Michigan’s licensed cosmetologists, barbers and their team members are capable, ready and excited to get back to work meeting the needs of our clients,” Lisa Dennison, a regional director for Michigan Supercuts and Cost Cutters salons across the state, said in a statement. “Our salons have always met detailed health and safety standards, and we’ve developed a comprehensive plan to go even further to keep everyone who walks through the door healthy. We urge Gov. Whitmer to lift her ban on our jobs immediately.”
Some suspect Whitmer delayed the opening of barber shops because a barber in Owosso remained open during her stay-at-home order.
The 77-year-old Karl Manke opened May 4 because he was not receiving unemployment benefits and needed to make money to survive. Despite having his license suspended and receiving a cease and desist order, he continued to cut hair, becoming a local symbol of resistance.
After a Michigan court of appeals ordered him to shut down, Manke appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court, which unanimously sided with him.
Whitmer added more fire to the controversy when she said people could Google how to cut their own hair. She has since apologized for the remark.
Michigan was one of the last states to allow barber shops and beauty parlors to reopen, not until June 15 when Whitmer did so under strict health guidelines.
“Other states realize that with our licensing, we already take a lot of the same precautions,” Kristan Sayers, president of the Michigan Association of Beauty Professionals, told MLive. “I think there’s just a little bit of a miscommunication on what our licensing actually does for us and the professionalism we already maintain."
Under the guidelines barber shops must keep records on all of their customers and collect their contact information. They must also limit their capacity, remove magazines and other self-serve amenities, and ensure everyone is wearing a mask.
Other safe practices that salons and barber shops are implementing include cleaning after each guest, which means longer wait times. But owners are confident they will be able to keep their guests safe.
“The standard in the personal care industry has always been that sanitation is not an option, it is a must,” Rodrick Samuels, director of education at the Hair Lab Detroit Barber School, told MLive.
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