Cautious East Cobb businesses ease into gradual reopening

East Cobb businesses reopening — *Employees at Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care in East Cobb prepare for a new way of doing business. (ECN photos)*

When she opened her nail salon in the Shallowford Falls Shopping Center last August, Rhoda Gunnigle told customers that “We Love Clean.”

That’s the slogan for Frenchie’s Modern Nail Care, and Gunnigle, as a newly-minted franchisee of the national company, earnestly meant to live up to it.

She’s had to stress that message even more, and have her staff take even greater hygiene measures, as her shop reopened Friday after a six-week closure due to the Coronavirus crisis.

*Frenchie’s East Cobb owner Rhoda Gunnigle goes over new safety measures with her staff.*

Salons like hers were allowed to open last Friday by Gov. Brian Kemp, but Gunnigle wanted to take extra time to train her staff to meet extensive new requirements.

She also wanted to gauge the willingness of customers to patronize a business in a “personal touch” industry that’s been caught in the crossfire over how much reopening should be allowed as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to take a toll.

“We have some [customers] who have been so supportive,” Gunnigle said Thursday, taking a break from final preparations. “And there are others who are not ready yet, and that’s understandable.”

Georgia’s reopening has been criticized in national media and by public health officials, and Gunnigle said she understands the concerns.

But she has her own. Like many business owners, she filed right away in March for federal relief under the Paycheck Protection Program, and earlier this week finally got the loan money. Under the PPP, employers must spend at least 75 percent of the money on payroll, or the loan will not be forgiven.

Gunnigle said she’s going to use all of it to pay her employees, while she scrambles to pay her landlord and meet other financial obligations. She got a six-month reprieve on her Small Business Association loan she used to start the business, and that’s helped.

*Frenchie’s employees were busy cleaning and disinfecting nearly every surface of the salon before it reopened.*

She said she’s glad she waited to reopen at least for a few days, and understands why some people don’t want to get their nails done, or hair cut, for now.

“But if you wait until it’s too comfortable, it may be too late,” Gunnigle said, speaking from a business owner’s perspective.

“How can you wait while while expenses pile up? With the rent due, I didn’t feel I had much of a choice.”

Frenchie’s is doing a slow reopening, available for now only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and by appointment only.

She’s not allowing walk-ins, and anyone coming through the front door—even the mailman—is asked questions about international travel, possible exposure to the virus, and more.

Gunnigle is acting as the front desk receptionist, using only three staffers at a time, instead of the typical six. They all must wear masks, which are optional for customers.

Guests must wash their hands and practice social distancing. Clear plastic screens shield customers and employees alike.

After guests leave following a “touchless checkout,” the area where they sat, including their chairs, is fully disinfected. Disposable items are promptly tossed away.

Gunnigle said she’s going beyond the state-issued mandates, including those from the Georgia State Board of Cosmetologists and Barbers, which also regulates nail salons. She feels confident that she and her workers are as prepared as they can be.

She says that “I feel as safe in here as I do at home” and understands that some may think that getting a manicure isn’t the most important thing in the world right now. “But there are people who want to come back the safe way.”

*Cobb commissioner Bob Ott stopped by Intrigue Salon, which also has reopened on Johnson Ferry Road (Photo courtesy Intrigue Salon).*

Going ‘biotech’ to get cleaner

Intrigue Salon on Johnson Ferry Road also took a few extra days to reopen, for many of the same reasons as Frenchie’s.

Owner Jeff South also was waiting for delivery of Synexis, which is described as a “biodefense technology to mitigate infectious microorganisms.”

It’s similar to the technology used to clean and disinfect schools, hospitals and restaurants. Synexis produces hydrogen peroxide in the same physical state as the oxygen and nitrogen in the air, and the molecule is known as Dry Hydrogen Peroxide (DHP).

South said his salon is the first in the world to to install Synexis, and that it’s effective against airborne and surface viruses, bacteria and fungi.

Intrigue also is limiting customers to only those with appointments. Customers must also wear masks, and although gloves are optional their hands must be washed.

They also will be asked health questions by stylists, who are sanitizing chairs and their work stations after every customer, who will have a clean cape and clean tools.

Intrigue also is not blow-drying hair for now, but is offering a free serum treatment before guests leave.

Those measures, like those undertaken by other salons, are a blend of hygiene and the pragmatism prompted by social distancing.

While a number of “personal touch” businesses are waiting a while longer, Rhoda Gunnigle of Frenchie’s says “we can’t stay home forever. The economy cannot continue to be shut down.”

Among her first customers this weekend is her mother, who lives in the North Georgia mountains and whom she hasn’t seen for nearly two months because of social distancing.

As a business owner who felt the initial shutdowns nearly cast a fatal blow to her enterprise, Gunnigle said “I’m still not out of the woods.”

Reopening her nail salon—if only for a few days at a time, and far from full operations—”is a risk, but as a business owner you have to take some risks.”