The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Hairanoia owner Michael DeSalvo wants his clients to feel normal in his hair salon. Although magazine issues and Nino’s Italian Bakery pastries had to be removed from his salon’s waiting area, there was one thing he could keep: his salon’s fall display.

“’People want to see something normal,” DeSalvo recalled Stefanie Smith, one of his hairdressers, saying. “If they came into Hairanoia and it wasn’t decorated, it would probably really make them sad.”

Halloween knickknacks clutter the salon and fake fall leaves hang from the ceiling. In one of the chairs, a customer had their hair colored while bantering with Miguel Ruiz, one of Hairanoia’s hairdressers. It’s a sense of normalcy, DeSalvo said.

Hairanoia, located in Syracuse’s Northside neighborhood, was one of the many central New York hair salons that closed in March. During the shutdown, DeSalvo upgraded his salon’s air filtration system to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The salon also added ultraviolet lights into its heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.

“We’re very serious about (safety protocols),” DeSalvo said. “If something does happen for God’s sakes, at least we are doing our best.”

Miguel Ruiz, a hairdresser at Hairanoia, bantered with a customer. He is a part of DeSalvo’s team that is making sure Hairanoia is as safe and clean as possible. Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor

DeSalvo gets tested for COVID-19 once a week, and his staff is also tested every two weeks and has to bring in paperwork.

He has a health record folder and contact tracing sheets for both his bathroom and common area, and has been following public health guidelines. He also encourages customers to leave the salon without blow-drying their hair — if they’re willing — and constantly cleans his salon’s door handles and furniture.

“My poor furniture,” DeSalvo said. “It’s exhausting.”

When DeSalvo closed his salon in March, he spent time on the phone with Smith every day, collaborating with her on how the salon could follow COVID-19 guidelines.

Once the salon opened back up in May, DeSalvo saw a spike in client appointments, but then it got progressively slower. However, he feels that when people heard about Hairanoia’s carefulness with the pandemic, business picked up again, and he believes his salon is doing OK.

“We have to prepare ahead,” DeSalvo said. “Today’s good, but we hope tomorrow is too. There’s no guarantees.”

Suzanne Myers, another hairdresser and owner of Hair4U By Suzanne, feels fortunate. The pandemic has allowed her to start her own business instead of sticking at a chain salon in Destiny USA that closed down in March

Halloween knick-knacks clutter Hairanoia and fake fall leaves hang from the ceiling. Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor

Hair4U runs a suite in Shear Perfection Salon & Spa and has an air filtration system. Clients feel safer, with Myers normally opening up the doors for her client and having limited contact, she said. She is also regularly taking extra time to sanitize her workspace and equipment.

“We were all pretty well trained for that,” Myers said. “(But) I can’t say I’ve ever sanitized my hairspray bottles before … stuff I never thought of.”

Going back to work at Destiny USA provided concerns of social distancing issues for Myers, but with Hair4U, she is able to take one customer at a time. Opening up her suite has also allowed her to get off unemployment a month and a half earlier.

For Myers, doing hair is more of a hobby than a job, so not having it for three months felt like “withdrawals,” she said. On her first day of opening, Myers said she worked for 12 hours and was excited to see clients again. Now, she said she can breathe a little easier and spread out people more in her schedule. She knows her job can add some normalcy back into clients lives.

“When talking to people to other people is your life and taken away … it’s really sad,” Myers said. “I hope it doesn’t happen again.”

On the day that Evan Michaels Salon closed, Kasey Castetter felt she lost her livelihood. It was a nightmare, she said.

Hair salons have updated their air filtration systems. Emily Steinberger | Photo Editor

During the time Evan Michaels was shut down, Castetter remodeled her salon because she was going “stir crazy,” she said. But the pandemic allowed her to take a step back and look at what could be done differently. The owner put in hardwood floors and also added locally handmade dividers into her salon to make her customers feel more protected.

When her business opened up in June, Castetter worked seven days a week and believes she has caught up, despite the economic lapse in the pandemic. She believes that her salon is doing well, even doing better than before the pandemic.

“We’re in a time where everyone’s feeling a crunch. We offer a gift to people that feels good, like when your hair looks good you feel good,” Castetter said. “A lot of people were having a hard time, and that’s the one thing we can offer to help people feel better.”

Published on October 28, 2020 at 11:28 pm

Contact Christopher: [email protected] | @chrisscargs