'So excited': Indoor hair salons, barbershops, malls reopen with reduced capacity in Santa Clara County
SAN JOSE, Calif (KGO) -- On Monday, hair salons, barbershops and indoor malls will be allowed to operate indoors under the state's new system, but only at 25% capacity.
The safety guidelines are put in place by the county and state, and Santa Clara County is one of the counties giving the green light to do so.
Andy Su is a stylist and owner of Supreme Hair Styling and Nails off Camden Avenue in San Jose. He heard of the news form his clients.
"Clients they called me and I googled it and that's how I found out," Su said.
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He already set up tents outside and jokingly said he's gotten used to it. Su plans to open indoors- partially tomorrow, but he's slightly confused on the exact guidelines.
"Partially indoor but I still get confusing they say 25% of what that I don't know," Su said.
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Su is said he's grateful his clients have been supporting him through this all.
"I cut hair like $20 and they pay $100-$200 in tips they say oh- I just want to see you guys stay in business. It touched my heart when the community help us out a lot," Su said.
Also off Camden Avenue is Haircuts Only where Marco Puebla just finished getting his haircut done. Puebla said he's happy to see this happen.
"We've been doing haircuts in our garage and every time I do a haircut I'm reminded this is why we have professionals. This is something we've waited for for a long time so I'm actually very happy," Puebla said.
He also added that this will make things feel more normal again.
"We've had hot weather and smoky weather, and I think there's a lot of pent up excitement. I mean honestly to feel more normal again," Puebla said.
Kate Vu owns Haircuts Only. She opened it four years ago and had to let go of all of her employees when COVID-19 hit.
"When they say okay your salon can open up and then I get so excited I get everything ready. Clean up, sanitize everything and then all my customers stopped calling and booked appointments," Vu said.
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She said she'll see how things go inside for a week, and then decide if she'll call her employees back.
"I hope this is the first step to get everything back like before," Vu said.
And when it comes time to shopping - indoor malls like Westfield Valley Fair will open on Monday at 25% capacity. The mall will continue to offer curbside pick-up.
They released this statement:
"Following the recent announcement by Governor Newsom that indoor retail in Santa Clara County can resume, Westfield Valley Fair will resume indoor operations for the community on Monday, 8/31.
When the center reopens, it will also introduce 25 brand-new retailers and restaurants to its collection of offerings-many of them first-to-market in Silicon Valley. The new retailers and restaurants debut at the center as part of an ongoing $1.1 billion transformation, making Westfield Valley Fair a destination where the community can safely come together to shop, eat, and play."
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