Karen Shaw, owner of A Cut Above Kent hair salon, reopened her Salon on May 15 with new sanitization methods to keep customers and employees safe.

The salon is open Tuesday-Saturday and is closed Sunday and Monday, hours vary. Shaw explained that her salon was closed for eight weeks and two days after mandatory Covid-19 shutdowns. 

“We were open seven days a week for the first three weeks just to catch up on people,” Shaw said.  

In order to easily sanitize, magazines, cushions and decor have been removed from the salon for the time being. 

“Every time someone comes in they have to wear a mask, we wear masks,” said Shaw. “We don’t take anybody in our salon unless they wear a mask.”

 Clients call to let the salon know they have arrived before coming in, and they sanitize their hands at the front counter, which gets wiped down about every hour. 

Walk-ins are no longer being offered so appointments do not get double booked. 

“The minute they get out of the shampoo chair, we sanitize that,” said Shaw. “Then they go into our chair, and we sanitize that when they leave.”

There are only a couple hair products being put out that clients do not touch and those get sanitized frequently. The nail tech stations have Plexiglas on the counters to keep a barrier between the customer and employee. Employees who wax wear shields as well.

“Five stylists at a time is enough to be able to be separated well,” Shaw said. 

The square footage of the salon is over 1,500 feet. Manicure tables were rearranged to make sure there was a six feet distance, as well as every other hair station being used by stylists. 

“We are trying to make it safe for everybody,” said Shaw. “My customers and my girls are my family, and most everybody says that they feel safe coming here.”

Gina Schlegel covers downtown and business. Contact her at [email protected].