Haircuts, personal care services put on hold with California stay-at-home order

“Unfortunately today is going to be the last day that we are able to stay open before the shutdown," one Palm Desert European Wax employee said while informing a customer over the phone that their appointment would be canceled.

Employees made phone calls throughout Sunday, giving customers the option to reschedule after a 3-week period.

That's how long California's new regional stay-at-home order is slated to last, according to the state.

Salons, barbershops and personal care service businesses in Southern California were forced to close Sunday night at 11:59 p.m.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the new order last week for parts of the state that failed to meet the Intensive Care Unit capacity threshold of 15%. On Friday night Southern California dipped below the threshold, reporting 13.1%. Over the weekend, the state reported a steady decline in ICU capacity. As of Sunday night the region dropped to 10.3%.

"We came in this morning and just tried to let as many guests as possible know that they can hopefully get in for their next one," said European Wax Center manager in Palm Desert, Jenifer Holmes.

"We’re just sad we have to do it again," said Danielle Fink, co-owner of European Wax Center in Palm Desert and La Quinta.

Fink and her husband, Richard Kendzierski said they were finally gaining momentum since the last shutdown. This will be the 3-rd time both locations close.

"I didn’t think we were going to get shut down one more time, I really didn’t because I think we have our stuff together," said Kendzierski.

New employees were starting to be rehired after staff was nearly cut in half at both locations.

"The most frustrating thing has been you keep getting these new orders on what you need to do for safety, standard procedure, protocol-- we follow everything but we still continue to get shutdown," said Fink.

The owners said both locations have adopted the state's additional safety guidelines, which include temperature checks and sanitation protocols, in addition to existing rigorous sanitation practices already required by the franchise.

The news didn't come entirely as a shock to the owners. Despite their frustrations, both have found some peace of mind knowing that this shut down has a timeline of 3 weeks.

"We’re trying to protect our community, we’re trying to protect everybody here. ICU capacity is a big deal so we understand that part of it for sure. We have to be able to treat people and keep people safe," said Fink.

The state's order also extends to barbershops and salons.

"I’m going to take it one day at a time, one week at a time- that’s all we can do at this point," said owner of Dennis Ogas Salon, Dennis Ogas.

This will not be the first time Ogas has had to close his El Paseo salon. Now as he prepares for the next wave of restrictions, he is also having to cancel appointments for customers and right before the holidays.

"I call them one-on-one- explain the situation which they already know. Unfortunately I’ll have to rebook them after the next 3 week periods, hopefully it won’t go past that," said Ogas.

The salon has built up 15 years worth of clientele, which Ogas attributes to his ability of getting through the pandemic.

"I’m just hoping that this will go by quickly and that this will be behind us and we’ll have a better year," said Ogas.