Saturday, February 27, 2021
"You get scared"
Hairdressers want to take care of hairstyles again
Finally back to the hairdresser – this will be possible from Monday. "Our receptionist calls himself crazy," says a Dortmund hairdresser and looks forward to the customers. "They all look like a mop on their heads."
Marco Trapani is looking forward to the moment when he can do what he likes to do again: "Make people happy by making them a hairstyle that suits them." After a two and a half months forced break in the corona lockdown, the Dortmund master hairdresser can start again from Monday. He wants to open at one minute after midnight – "get out what is possible," he says to the early opening. He wants to go to bed at three o'clock and continue at nine. Since it was clear that hairdressers are allowed to open again, the phone has not stood still: "Our receptionist calls himself crazy." All dates for March have already been taken.
No wonder: "You are shocked by what hair you see in front of you," says Trapani. Outgrown approaches, out of shape cuts, hair creeping deep into the nape of the neck. "They all look like a mop on their heads. I'm happy to be able to help."
He will not be able to recoup the losses caused by the forced closure – not with new customers and certainly not with a few extra shifts at midnight. In 20 years he has built a healthy company that makes it possible for him to make ends meet with reserves, loans and Corona aid. What is in store for his company with its ten employees is uncertain: "We don't know whether there will be another lockdown and what customer behavior is like."
"Relieved and Happy"
Not only Trapani has a busy schedule – many other hairdressers are already fully booked for the month of March. For example Harald Esser, who has a salon in Cologne and, as chairman of the hairdressing and cosmetics association NRW, speaks for the 16,000 hairdressing salons in the state. "We are all very, very relieved and happy that we can go back to work," says Esser. Financially, it is high time. "For two and a half months there has not been a cent in the till – that is an expensive proposition."
The master hairdresser has extended the opening hours of his salon by three hours per working day. He reduced the number of operator stations from eleven to six due to distance rules. "For many people we could not even do the haircut before Christmas – Easter is soon and the matter is accordingly urgent." Esser is certain that the hairdressers in North Rhine-Westphalia will adhere to the hygiene measures – and that there will be no risk of infection.
Melanie Tillert's phone never stood still either. She has canceled Monday as a day of rest for the time being, and her Solingen salon is now open six days a week. Her customers are amazingly flexible, she says with a wink. "Many customers have said:" I need an appointment, no matter when, I'll take a day off for it. "
Ute Hützen from Cologne has also significantly extended the opening times of her salon. "When the first onslaught has been dealt with, however, I would like to return to regular working hours – my employees shouldn't be walking on the cane after just two weeks." Financially, she just managed to close the corona, reports the master hairdresser. She didn't think such a dry spell was possible. "The hair always grows, it has to be cut," says Hützen. "That's why our industry is actually crisis-proof – at least if you let us."
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