By Mitchell Clarke
Iso haircut fixes are underway as crowds flock to local hairdressers, but those in need of an eyebrow trim are still in despair.
Premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement on Sunday 18 October brought some immediate relief to struggling hairdressers, but beauty therapists – in the same award – can’t operate yet, despite initially being granted the same reopen time.
Queues gathered outside New York Barbers in Berwick from 6.30am over consecutive days, as owner Mario Fallace welcomed back customers for the first time in four months.
Liberal Gembrook MP Brad Battin was one of those first in line to get a quick tidy-up.
“As I stand in the line at New York Barbers with 30 other blokes for a haircut, the message couldn’t be clearer from them all – why couldn’t we open more safely now,” he said.
Mr Fallace, who has been in business for 36 years and based in Berwick for more than 23, said the pandemic had been the most difficult period to navigate.
“It’s been extremely tough. The first years were quite difficult, but this has been by far the most difficult, mainly because we had no idea what was going on,” he explained.
“I’ll be working myself for the next three years with no income, just to catch up, just to make ends meet and to bounce back for this period.
“We’ve been in survival mode.”
Mr Fallace said it was an “absolute relief” to be given the all clear to cut again.
“I thought he (the Premier) might have kicked the can down the street one more week, I wasn’t expecting to open straight away, but we were ready and prepared,” he explained.
“I called an emergency meeting with all the staff at 4pm (on Sunday) to discuss our Covid plan and safety.”
But the popular barber has the backing of his community, with two to three hour waits expected over the opening days.
“People were just relieved to have us open again,” Mr Fallace added.
“I’ve had two clients take annual leave just to come in and get a hair cut.
“There’s also been some iso cuts that parents have done, and I think they should have stuck to gardening or other things around the house. Let’s just say, we filled up three rubbish bins of hair on opening day.”
It was a similar story in Pakenham at Future Kings Barber, which opened especially on the Monday to deal with an increased demand.
Company owner Kaysie Goodman said she was a “bit shocked” to receive the news that her business could start trading within 24 hours of the announcement.
“I was definitely hoping to be able to reopen. It’s been pretty hard,” she said.
Ms Goodman only purchased the company a year ago but has been closed for at least three months of that time.
“It’s been a struggle, we’ve been relying on JobKeeper, but it’s a bit of sanity to be back at work,” she said.
“It’s been pretty packed since we reopened, so hopefully with the high demand it continues to get better and we don’t need to go back to another lockdown.”
But while hairdressers are free to trade, beauty therapists have again been slapped with more uncertainty.
Pakenham sole traders Tylar-Ann Pearl, from Unreal Artistry, and Codie Edwards, from Be Miss Beauty, both launched petitions in the last few months pleading for the dates to be reassessed.
“It’s just heartbreaking to forever be in the same award as hair but now we are somehow different,” Ms Edwards told the Gazette in September.
The industry was given a reprieve in mid-September when it was confirmed beauty could reopen in line with hair, but they’ve been pushed back to 1 November.
“We have had stages, then steps now new steps. Not even the government can give certainty or a clear pathway to normal,” Mr Battin said.
“We must find a way to live with Covid-19 or we will see Victoria continue to remain locked up.”
A State Government spokeswoman said the timeline for the opening of personal care services was based on the current advice of the public health team.
“We have said that the timetable could be brought forward based on daily assessment of indicators including case averages, mystery cases and test numbers. If we are in a position to safely move earlier, we will,” she said.
