By David Tyler
As the pandemic-caused shutdown of business grows longer, the patience of some entrepreneurs in Central New York is beginning to wear thin.
Eric and Kendalia Edelman are the owners of Miracles Hair Studio, which has two locations – one in North Syracuse and one in Fayetteville. Around April 20, Eric Edelman, who is also a physician, reached out to the county with an extensive safe reopening strategy that would allow their 35 employees to return to work.
Although Miracles did receive a brief emailed response from County Executive Ryan McMahon on May 4, to date they have received no guidance as to whether they can reopen when the New York State on Pause order expires on May 15, or under what conditions.
Miracles Hair Studio was able to obtain a PPP loan to keep employees on payroll, and some have used the time to do online training and some other minor tasks, but the business itself has been shut down for nearly two months with virtually no revenues coming in.
Edelman said both their employees and their clients are eager to come back.
“At the moment, we haven’t heard from any employees that they don’t want to come back,” Edelman said, noting that there are a couple of employees that are older or who have underlying health conditions that may be encouraged to stay out longer “to protect them.”
Typically, the two salons see 500 to 700 clients per week, and many have called inquiring about when they will be able to make an appointment.
“They are basically ready to stand in line to be the first ones to get their hair colored,” Edelman said.
Under the reopening guidelines Miracles proposed, clients would visit by appointment only, and there would be no on-site waiting area. Hand sanitizing stations would be placed throughout the facility and chairs would be kept far separate from one another.
In New York, hair stylists are certified after 1,000 hours of training, Edelman said. About 25 of those hours are devoted to safety and infection control.
“On some level, I get that they need to deal with it on an industry-by-industry basis,” Edelman said. “But I think we can do it safely.”
Instead, he said, he is left with no guidance from the county or state as to when Miracles will be able to reopen, or why they can’t reopen despite the extensive safety protocols they’ve put in place.
“Basically, we’re being told ‘You can’t open because we said so.’”
They say, ‘we want you to open.’
High above the City of Syracuse, Dan Palladino is wondering when he will be allowed to welcome guests to his extensive outdoor dining area at Heritage Hill Brewhouse in Pompey. He has also submitted a reopening plan that would allow for outdoor dining service beginning May 15, with extensive social distancing protocols in place.
“We have got to look at outside [dining] differently,” Palladino said. “The majority of our customers, they say we want to be able to be outside. We want you to open.”
Heritage Hill’s plan includes an outdoor kiosk for ordering, and a single location where food will be delivered. Diners will get their food at that single location and return to picnic tables that will be separated by at least 10 feet from one another. Parking will be limited to reduce the number of people on site, and attractions like the children’s play area will not be accessible.
Palladino said it makes no sense that ice cream stands and food trucks are permitted, but brick and mortar restaurants with outdoor seating that can establish similar protocols are prohibited from operating.
He looks at overcrowding in parks and other open-air outdoor venues and wonders if the opening of more outdoor businesses would reduce overcrowding at the parks.
“The more outlets we give people, the more opportunity they have to spread out,” he said.
Local legislators, including those at the county, have had their authority stripped away by Albany, Palladino said, so they can’t provide any insights into how Heritage Hill should proceed.
“The governor’s taken complete control over it,” he said. “Nobody’s willing to make the call.”
Like Edelman, Palladino has been able to keep most of his staff on payroll with the help of a PPP grant.
During the shutdown, Heritage Hill has maintained a bustling take-out business and the Farm Store grocery business has continued to operate. But without the restaurant, there is very little margin in the business.
In the meantime, without any additional guidance, Heritage Hill “is marching forward to get everything done by [May 16],” he said, so they’ll be ready the moment they get the go ahead.
“If you wait until there’s absolutely no risk, I won’t be around and a lot of other businesses won’t be too,” Palladino said. “There’s never going to be a time when there’s absolutely no risk.”
