“Spotless and pristine”
“Our place is like a hospital. We can perform surgery in here,” said owner and creative director Jurga Rimkute when describing how her salon, Lanphier, looked on Monday morning. “Everything is spotless and pristine.”
Lanphier, an 11,000-square-foot, full-service spa at 20 West Avenue, opened at 8 a.m. and was busy with customers for the rest of the day.
And the place is pretty booked up.
Prior to reopening, the salon had a waiting list of 300 people, Rimkute said.
“We had to move the customers from March [when we closed] to this month,” Rimkute said.
On Monday, the salon had four color treatments at 8 a.m., and two haircuts.
Since spas are not allowed to reopen yet, Lanphier is open only the hair side.
“We have opened very conservatively,” Rimkute added. “We are just weaning in and will adapt how things go. That’s the plan.”
Expansion, services
During the time it was closed, the eight-year-old salon has expanded.
The salon converted its nail department into a color department. It shrank the nail department and moved it to the spa area and now only offers private pedicure and manicures in the private room “versus everybody being together,” Rimkute said.
All staff are wearing masks and protective eyewear, and customers are wearing masks. There are stations of hand sanitizers.
The salon is using every other chair for customers.
Lanphier currently has 19 styling stations, “so we can take nine customers at a time,” said Rimkute, adding it can take even more customers if it utilizes other areas, such as the styling section.
The salon is leaving enough time in between appointments to properly sanitize all areas.
“We change gloves and disinfect the area before moving to the next customer,” she said.
There are no magazines and newspapers, and no coffee or other beverages are available.
Returning to work
While most of her staff has returned to work, some have not been able to yet.
“We have some moms who have children and because schools are closed, they have nowhere to leave their children,” Rimkute said.
About 95 percent of customers couldn’t wait to get back in, according to Rimkute.
“They are thrilled, excited, grateful and happy to be here,” she said.
“Five percent, however, are still hesitant. They’re still worried,” she added. “Many of them have a health condition and others are older people who are holding out for a later date.”
“We will respect that,” Rimkote said. “It’s not the time for judgment,” she said. “Our goal to make them feel the best as we can and bring them back next time.”
She said it’s very important that the town opens back up again.
“At some point, we need to resume life. We wish we would know the end date of this, but we don’t,” she said. “We want to see what we can do in order to protect everyone and continue moving forward. We are going one day at a time.”
