NC barber shops brace for uncertainty as clients get their last cuts before coronavirus shutdown
Carl Rogers said it was a typical Tuesday at D&M Barber Shop in Durham, where he’s cut hair for more than two and a half decades.
But this is the last typical Tuesday for a while, as the world seems to be running out of typical things.
After 5 p.m. Wednesday, D&M and all the other barber shops and salons in North Carolina will be closed indefinitely, along with gyms and movie theaters, the latest round of closings ordered by the state in an effort to rein in the spread of the coronavirus. The week before bars and restaurants were closed to dine-in customers, leaving only grocery stores as one of the few remaining retail businesses still operating.
K.J. McAlister, who’s been coming to D&M for more than 20 years, brought his son Vincent in for one last haircut before the two week hiatus. McAlister, a network engineer, has been working from home and said he’s stocked with food at the house. Losing the barber shop may be the greatest disruption.
“You learn a lot when you come to the barbershop,” K.J. McAlister told the N&O. “What to look out for in the world….I normally get my haircut on Friday. Pick my son up from school, come in. But when I heard ... I decided to call my barber and let him know we were coming in early. I’ve got to change my work schedule and my life schedule.”
K.J. has been getting his hair cut weekly at D&M for more than 20 years. The black smock showed the gray hairs trimmed from his beard.
“You watched me get old,” he told Rogers.
Barber shops prepare to shutter due to coronavirus
The world is changing on both sides of the barbershop window. Inside, the television was tuned to the local news, a steady stream of coronavirus case updates, stories on patient privacy, health worker safety and the closing and adapting businesses of the Triangle.
Rogers said he had a couple regular customers pop in for last-minute haircuts before the closing, plus the McAlister father and son. The rest were by appointments. D&M is mostly by appointment, these days, he said, where in the past you might see a dozen customers waiting to get a haircut on a Friday night. In the past few weeks, as the spread of the coronavirus has altered just about every aspect of normal life, Rogers said he’s been somewhat cautious, washing his hands and his instruments, as usual, but never afraid.
“We are up close and personal,” Rogers said of being a barber. “I could be doing someone’s mustache and they could cough and sneeze or whatever and saliva gets on you. It is what it is. It’s part of the industry. I don’t really worry about it. I don’t live my life in fear. I’ve been doing this for 26 years. There isn’t much I haven’t come across.”
On the other side of Durham, 20-year-old barber shop Donnie Best’s Men’s Salon saw as many cancellations as customers needing last minute cuts, the owner said.
“It’s just been terrible with all the uncertainty,” Best said. “People have been canceling and people have been calling trying to get in.”
In Raleigh, barber Odie Robinson said he’s preparing for a busy Wednesday, but overall business has suffered as customers have stayed away.
“Some people are scared to come in, but others, who got to have a haircut every week, still come in,” Robinson said Tuesday. “I’ll be booked up tomorrow, but it’s been slow the last couple days. People don’t want to interact with anyone.”
Robinson said he has some savings and can keep expenses low for the next few weeks, but is concerned how long the shutdown will last.
“This is for our safety and at the end of the day it’s the right thing,” Robinson said. “I’m lucky I’ve got some pennies saved up.”
This story was originally published March 25, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
