Beauty business back but not booming

Business is yet to boom for the beauty industry since reopening at the weekend.

While popular establishments had queues of overgrown Afros, beards and split-ends queuing to leave the lockdown styles behind, others have been struggling to find their feet.

The owner of Beauty by Cindy in Newton Park, Cindy Vermuelen, said now that they were  allowed to operate people were queuing up to get their nails, hair and waxing done.

“Business is finally picking up, I’d see about eight people a day before the lockdown, but now I’m seeing about four, this affected the whole household, my husband can only work on level 1 so we were praying for the reopening of salons,” Vermuelen said.

A Uitenhage barber and co-owner of Khalifa barber shop, who asked not to be named, said since Saturday they have had a steady flow of customers in the shop.

“Since reopening people have been coming to get their hair and beards cut and because we only have six chairs most of the guys are waiting outside but they don’t seem to mind.

“They all say they have waited as long as we have for the shop to reopen.

“So we are very happy to be back and I am sure more and more people will keep coming when they see all the new hygiene steps we are taking,” he said.

However, it has not been as easy for all in the industry to simply restart and regain their former momentum.

Onele Cembi, who owns Oddz and Oddz salon in Uitenhage, made headlines with his unique protest hairstyle with the word ‘Senzenina’ (what have we done) in his dreads. 

Cembi said while he was grateful he could reopen his salon, business had been lagging.

“A day I’d roughly have about 30 clients depending on the time of the month, from the 25th to the 30th its normally my busiest time.

“But business is slow, but we’re grateful government allowed us to resume work.

“However, though we are open the virus is still there, my salon is one of the busiest in Uitenhage, I have three workers who I don’t know if I’ll be bringing back.

“I’m working alone thus far, where I’m meeting between 17 and 20 clients a day via appointment, but people are afraid to come to a crowd of people in the salon.”

Cembi said he could not take huge numbers as he had to clean up after each client and wait for 15 minutes before taking another client.

As a result he is making just enough to pay for rent.

Delray studio owner Cindy Loots said business was “very bad” at the moment at her in Newton Park salon.

“I was still establishing my business, I didn’t have a big clientele yet, I’d get depending on the time of the month about 14 a day, but now I have 10 or fewer clients.”