KINGSTON, Pa. — Hair salons have had to deal with their share of problems over the last two years, including a shutdown.
During the most recent wave of coronavirus, one of those problems got a lot worse.
"I have to cancel my appointment because I have COVID." That's a sentence Andrew Stutsman is very used to hearing.
"Especially in the last few weeks, we've been having a really big increase in people canceling their appointments last minute," said Stutsman.
Andrew Stutsman is the manager at Shakti Salon in Kingston, and last-minute cancellations have become a regular part of the job.
"It's happening a lot more frequently, especially over the last few months. You know, we had a bit of a slow-down period for a couple of months. But it's always been something we've had to deal with in the last two years."
Obviously, Stutsman doesn't want people who have or may have COVID-19 to come into the salon. But, it definitely hurts the business.
"Which makes total sense. We don't want people coming in here that have COVID," added Stutsman. "We have service providers that, you know, run on a pretty tight schedule, and when someone cancels last minute, it's very challenging at times to be able to find someone else to come in during that time. So, you know, it impacts the tips that the service providers get impacts the amount of revenue that we bring in."
That's just one of the obstacles Stutsman and his staff are facing.
They're going on month four of dealing with product shortages like shampoo.
"It's probably started in maybe November. And it's we're still noticing a lot of products that are back ordered or shipping delays," explained Stutsman. "We mainly work with Aveda, and they have had a lot of issues with shipping, so it takes a lot longer to get products, and there has been a lot of back-ordered products. So, we have noticed a number of products that are out of stock that we can't get for a very long period of time."
But the employees here are staying positive.
"I think as cases are starting to go down, there is light at the end of the tunnel. And regardless, we're in it for the long haul, and we're going to be here," said Stutsman.
After almost two years, overcoming these challenges is now just part of the job.
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