Hair stylist Rebecca Alcorn snipped away at Shelli Locierro’s hair in front of her shop in Rancho Mirage on Wednesday under a pop-up tent with an industrial fan blowing to keep them cool.
It’s the second week that Alcorn has conducted her business, Visions Organic Hair Studio, outside to take advantage of a caveat in the July 13 re-closure orders from Gov. Gavin Newsom aimed at counties such as Riverside that are on the state’s “watch list” for rising COVID-19 cases.
Newsom ordered that hair and nail salons, barbershops and gyms temporarily close or move their businesses outdoors to help slow the spread of coronavirus.
While the desert heat is forcing most to close for the second time since March, a handful of gyms and hairdressers such as Alcorn are finding ways to adapt and keep at least part of their business going.
The summer heat limits her to two hours per day, 8 to 10 a.m. Monday through Friday, and haircuts only, but Alcorn says it’s better than closing all together and it may be helping to build clientele when she can fully open again.
“So, there’s no shampooing, no chemical services and that’s really the hard part of what Newsom’s done,” she said, because 75% to 85% of the money salons make is from hair coloring and shampoos.
“This isn’t a move, in my opinion, to make the cash flow again. This is really, let me just give you the teensiest bit of wiggle room…” Alcorn said of Newsom’s giving the option for moving services outdoors.
While other areas of California are enjoying mild weather, making it easy to move outside, that's not the case in the desert. If it was November to March, it would be much easier for Alcorn.
“It’s beautiful during that time. But it’s 120 now,” she said.
Cities modify rules to accommodate businesses
To help businesses and restaurants move outdoors, many Coachella Valley cities have relaxed some regulations to allow operations on sidewalks and in parking lots.
For example, Rancho Mirage requires a “temporary use permit” for any modification to current operations, but there is no cost for the permit, city spokesman Gabe Codding said.
“That permit is to ensure the safety of the operation and patrons,” he said. If an operator, for example, planned to use parking spaces for outside dining, the city would want to review and approve those plans for any safety concerns.
“This process has no cost to the applicant and is merely a way for business operators to modify operations as seamlessly as possible,” he said.
Applications for the temporary use permit are available at City Hall or on the city’s website, ranchomirageca.gov. Completed applications can be taken to City Hall or emailed to planning@ranchomiraeca.gov.
Palm Springs does not require a permit at this time, City Manager David Ready said, adding he hasn't seen many salons or barbershops pull their businesses outdoors yet, at least not on Palm Canyon.
Businesses are encouraged to set up on private property, including parking lots, and avoid the sidewalks, Code Compliance Supervisor David Recio said.
“Setting up on the public sidewalk poses a number of issues in terms of electrical cords, etc.,” Recio said, and encouraged those that want to set up on a public sidewalk to obtain approval of an encroachment agreement from the Engineering Division at City Hall.
If more shops begin to move outside and sidewalk access becomes a problem, the city may require a temporary permit similar to what restaurants currently need to expand their outside dining, Ready said.
But the city would work with the businesses to make it as easy as possible, Ready said.
La Quinta had created an "Al Fresco" program for restaurants a few months ago, and with Newsom’s July 13 orders, expanded that to include other businesses.
There is no application fee, but businesses interested must register with the city to receive approval to expand outdoors under the program, said Danny Castro, design development director for the city.
Under its “Unite Palm Desert Economic Relief Program,” Palm Desert has made temporary use permits available to restaurants and other businesses to expand onto public sidewalks, on-street parking spaces and parking lots, under the COVID-19 regulations, Principal Planner Eric Ceja said.
“In addition, we are looking to expand this offering to barbers and salons as another way of supporting local business that can demonstrate compliance with the governor’s orders,” Ceja said.
In Indio, the city does not currently have any regulations relating to outdoor dining or outdoor business operations, so no permits are needed, spokeswoman Brooke Beare said.
COVID-19 era gym workouts
Some of the valley’s gyms have also found ways to adapt to the state’s latest guidelines and set up early morning and evening classes for members.
In La Quinta, Elijah Bishop, owner of Elite Fitness and Strength on Calle Tampico, offers workout classes in the parking lot at 5 a.m. Monday through Friday; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 6 a.m. Saturday.
Ryann McMillon, owner of Fit in 42 on Ramon Road in Palm Springs, brings weights, stationary cycles, benches, kettlebells and other equipment, as well as sanitation supplies, outside to a courtyard facing Gene Autry Trail, for classes at 5, 6, 7 and 8 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Each class has about eight to 12 people, with the earlier sessions having the larger draws.
“These are intense workouts,” McMillon said, the same level members would get if working out inside the gym.
“We’re following the new rules they’ve put on us and not being afraid to get outdoors and keep our business going…,” McMillon said, while keeping workouts intense and like what is usually offered indoors.
He’s been doing this about three weeks now, he said, adding that the coaches also do virtual workouts and training sessions to allow people who can’t or prefer not to get out to still get a workout at home via Zoom.
The outdoor and online classes – which were offered during the first shutdown – have helped keep his business afloat, but the pandemic has still had an impact.
“We’ve been really good about pivoting and adjusting,” McMillon said, but it’s the willingness of the members to try new things that determines if it will be successful.
“That’s the thing, some people don’t want to do online workouts, but they want to come do the outdoors,” he said, and others feel the opposite. But there are also those who just want things to return to pre-COVID-19, he said.
“But we’ve done a pretty good job of maintaining our membership,” McMillon said.
The gym had more than 200 members and growing before the March shutdown and has dropped to about 180.
Without the online programs and now the outdoor classes, the gym could have seen a greater loss of memberships, said McMillon.
“We have a huge connection to our members, so they stick with us and stay by us. So, we haven’t seen a crazy decline but that’s because of the constant adaptation. If we didn’t adapt … and just went with the flow of things, we would have crumbled,” McMillon said.
“Right now, we’re going into our third week, but we are seeing an uptick in numbers and our members coming back full-time,” McMillon said.
“So, there’s a lot of hope for us right now with this second shutdown, we just don’t know how long it’s going to go,” he said.
Gyms were fully shut down in March and allowed to reopen on June 12, but then closed July 13 by the governor for indoor workouts. There has been no timeline from the governor on when gyms, salons, restaurants, bars and other businesses will be able to fully reopen.
A place to work-out, stay motivated
It’s a similar picture for Bishop in La Quinta where the parking lot behind his gym, Elite Fitness and Strength, is transformed into a workout zone once or twice a day, six days a week.
Initially closed in March and when given the OK to reopen in mid-June, Bishop said uncertainty of whether there would be another possible shutdown if there was a surge in positive cases of COVID-19 held back a couple of weeks.
He finally reopened just before the Fourth of July and about a week later ordered to close again.
In the short period he was open, he was following all the guidelines set by state and county health officials – including taking temperatures of staff and members; equipment and workout areas distanced and taped off, so people would stay within the designated areas; and cleaning equipment often.
“I thought it was working well, everybody was safe and then we had to close down, so I read between the lines and it said … that we had to cease indoor operations unless we could modify outdoors,” Bishop said.
The lot is big enough that he can spread people out in every other parking stall, allowing distancing well beyond 6 feet.
He initially started with classes Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 5 and expanded to five days the second week. Soon, he was adding an evening class and then a Saturday morning workout, all at the request of members.
“For the most part, the members that are committed, they don’t care” that they are working out outside, Bishop said.
“They just want to have a place where they can work out, be pushed and stay motivated; something that holds them accountable. So, it is a little bit of an adjustment but the members that are coming are OK with it,” Bishop said.
Morning classes are attended by about 20 members and evening sessions draw about a dozen, he said, adding he is operating at about 25% of his normal membership.
Even though classes are outdoors, Bishop continues to adhere to safety guidelines set by the state and county health officials.
Members enter through the building and Bishop still takes their temperatures and they are directed to a hand-washing station, then grab the equipment they needed based on a list he hands them.
Masks are required when inside the building, though out in the parking there is enough distance that people can remove them if they prefer, he said.
“It works fairly well, considering the circumstances,” Bishop said.
He understands that the decision-makers “have a really tough job” and while most gyms were following the requirements, including keeping equipment clean and people distanced, others weren’t and that may have led to the second shutdown.
“I think if everyone followed the rules, I don’t think we would be in this predicament,” he said. “But how do you single them out and say, this gym’s doing it right, this gym’s doing it wrong without just saying, OK, if you can’t do it outdoors and keep (people) spaced apart, you can’t do it at all.”
Right now, Bishop said, he’s not mad at lawmakers for the rules they have set.
“I’m just going with the flow, doing my part and following the rules.”
‘We can’t lay down and die’
Alcorn said salons, which under normal circumstances must follow strict health and safety guidelines to keep their licenses, were unfairly tagged with the second round of closures when there was nothing to show they were responsible for the surge in positive cases.
“The state of California requires 1,600 hours of instruction, not just how to cut hair but how to keep people safe in normal conditions” before a license is granted, Alcorn said.
When the second shutdown was ordered, she said, salons were complying and even going beyond the additional guidelines required to reopen in June, including daily temperature checks for staff; face guards and masks worn by stylists and masks for clients, and sanitizing work stations between clients. Work stations also had to be distanced to keep clients kept at least 6 feet from each other.
There are 53,644 licensed salons and barbershops in California and as of Thursday, there had been no COVID-19 related fines, citations or enforcement actions taken against any licensees, California Department of Consumer Affairs spokesperson Cheri Gyuro said.
On July 13, when Newsom announced new mandates for salons in Riverside County, Alcorn was in Santa Barbara and it was how that city responded that inspired her to try working outdoors.
“Of course, our climate is completely different from Santa Barbara, there they closed down State Street and salons all moved outdoors. They were doing eyelash extensions, pedicures, anything you could think of,” Alcorn said.
“But truly that day was a little bit of hope,” she said. “There was a camaraderie of women talking to each other, discussing what’s going on in a friendly manner. That’s what we have lost. That’s what salons do. So, in that moment, I thought OK I could do something like that here in the desert.”
Maybe not all day, but anything to help keep moving forward, she said.
“We have to keep moving forward, we can’t lay down and die,” said Alcorn, adding she knows there are people worse off than her right now and as such donates 15% of her earnings to local charities.
Her business is mostly by appointment, but she said people driving on Highway 111 who notice she’s open sometimes stop for a haircut, as well.
She came back to her shop at 70065 Highway 111 in Rancho Mirage and bring a salon chair outside along with all whatever tools – scissors, combs, mirrors, etc. – she would need to cut hair.
She started out offering haircuts from 7 to 10 a.m. but with two children, she narrowed the time to 8 to about 10 or even 11 a.m. Monday through Friday, though some days she’s still just getting started and may not have the appointments to require opening all five days.
“I’m trying to do it five days a week, but I literally just started last week so it’s been 90% of those days,” Alcorn said.
“It’s been such a great response. People want to come out, want to be outdoors,” she said.
Desert Sun reporter Sherry Barkas covers the cities of La Quinta, Indian Wells, Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert. She can be reached at sherry.barkas@thedesertsun.com or (760) 778-4694. Follow her on Twitter @TDSsherry
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