Ottawa barbers, stylists eager to resume haircuts on Wednesday
Posted Jun 28, 2021 06:20:00 PM.
Barbers and stylists are ready to tame a lot of shaggy pandemic hairdos when Ontario enters the next phase of its economic reopening plan.
King's Own Barbershop on Gladstone Avenue, in Ottawa's Centretown neighbourhood, started up just a few months before the pandemic and because of lockdowns and restrictions, it has been closed longer than it's been open.
“It's been pretty rough on me. I lost two staff,” said Chris Lord, the shop's founder. “Now, I'm still standing, so I'm one of the lucky ones, I feel.”
Lord said government grants and benefits helped him stay afloat during government-ordered closures, but those payments are less than what he would normally earn.
Fortunately, Lord said, his clients have stuck with him; he's fully booked for more than a week's worth of 10-hour days. During that time, Lord expects to fix a lot of bad home haircuts.
“That's happened a few times, especially with the other lockdowns,” Lord said. “I walk in and some of these guys, someone's butchered their hair — the girlfriend special, the wife special — and I'm like, 'All right, we're going to fix you up, man.'”
Step 2 of Ontario's reopening, which takes effect Wednesday, June 30, also allows higher retail capacity limits and allows outdoor dining limits to increase from four to six people per table.