'They Feel Like Human Pinballs': Salons Willing To Defy Order To Reopen
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Salons across the Sacramento region are at their tipping point financially and say it's either they start indoor services again or go bankrupt.
"It makes me want to just cry," said Lindsey Wentz, the owner of Mint Salon in Lodi. "And it's, you know, I can't do anything about it."
On Saturday, Wentz sat inside her salon that was once flourishing with customers and is now empty.
Right now, there's a movement of salon owners willing to defy the state's order and reopen in just over a week.
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"They have two choices – they go bankrupt or they reopen their safe salons," Fred Jones, with The Professional Beauty Federation of California, explained.
Jones said he is willing to defend salons deciding to reopen indoors with safety protocols in place no matter the current rules.
"I think there will be hundreds of salons that, frankly, open the front door because we know there are already thousands of salons that are having their clients come through the back door," Jones said.
There are salons operating outdoors but there's no telling how long they'll be able to do that.
It's why the owners of Maribou Salon in Folsom, Larry and Jill Cromwell, have kept their doors closed, but it's financially devastating – recently costing them $100,000.
"Nobody can survive this long with no income. I don't know what is expected of us," Jill Cromwell said.
The Cromwells won't be defying the order but said they support the message behind the movement.
For Wentz, she's still deciding.
"I watch them struggling and I hear their side of things and they are really drowning out there,' she said of her booth renters, who are still out of work.
Salon owners have been sending letters to Gov. Gavin Newsom asking to be allowed to reopen indoors.
They say reopening can be done safely and are licensed in sanitation and disinfection.
There is a peaceful protest set to unfold outside the Capitol on Tuesday. The movement to defy state health orders to reopen is set for Aug. 17.
