Larchmont’s beloved Barbershop is open again for inside business, along with Vincent’s Hair Artistry and Romi Cortier, two Larchmont hair salons. Yesterday, the County of Los Angeles announced indoor hair services would be permitted with some restrictions, following an announcement last week by the Governor Gavin Newsom permitting barbershops and salons to open statewide.
The Larchmont Barbershop has been offering haircuts in front of the shop following the last closure announcement and it will continue to offer that option to customers who prefer to be outside. For those who want to come inside, barber and owner George Hilario is ready. He’s installed curtains between each chair and will be using only 25 precent capacity, as required by the county. No customers are allowed in unless there’s a seat for them in a chair. Hilario told the Buzz this morning that it’s been hard during the closures, but he’s happy to be back now.
Just down the street, Vincent De Marco, owner of Vincent Hair Artistry, has also been offering customers the option to be outside…but he, too, is glad he can now use his 2,000 square foot salon to welcome customers.
“We have lots of space and we are following all the rules to the letter,” De Marco told the Buzz this morning, adding that his team is very conscientiously cleaning between clients and everyone is wearing N95 face masks. De Marco is thankful that his stylists will be able to get back to work and he’s even able to bring back his facialist, Adrina.
“I want everyone to feel safe and we realize that different people have different comfort levels so we are also offering the option of being outside,” said De Marco. When the closure order came, he said, he spent several thousand dollars creating a welcoming outdoor space for clients in the back parking lot behind the salon.
On Larchmont, just north of Beverly, Romi Cortier, owner of Artful Living with Romi Cortier, has also been offering clients and option for service outside, but will now be able to serve customers inside.
“I made it effective the minute we heard the news yesterday,”Cortier told the Buzz. “Our new signage states: indoor services available, outdoor services available and outdoor house calls available.”
“Everyone has different levels of comfort, so we’re doing our best to accommodate that,” Cortier said. “For our clients with compromised immune systems, we prefer to take care of them outdoors. When we’re indoors, we still follow all of the sanitation guidelines, run our air purifier, open the windows at night to air things out, and keep the windows open during the day as much as possible. It’s a juggling act but our first priority is client safety.”
So happy that Romi Courtier is open and running both inside and outside his salon. He he is one of the best colorists I have ever been to. So grateful for him.