Though the pandemic of 2020 has caused grief for the economy worldwide, many New Concord small businesses have continued to serve the local community the best they can.
Elizabeth Camp, owner of Allure Salon & Spa on West Main Street, said the decision to close salons across Ohio resulted in a rush to get the salon closed on March 18.
“Closing wasn’t bad, but it was kind of a rush because we didn’t even get a 24-hour notice. They told us we were to close by the end of the night, which left us just hours to prepare to be closed for what we thought would just be a couple of weeks,” said Camp.
Allure Salon & Spa is located on West Main Street in New Concord. Allure offers hair cuts, hair coloring, and nail services.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced May 7 that salons and other similar establishments could reopen on May 15. Allure began to schedule appointments on May 15 and officially reopened for business May 19.
Though the salon had to set up extra precautions due to COVID-19, industry standards are already strict on hygiene and sanitation.
“Being a hair salon, the [Ohio] State Board of Cosmetology is huge on sanitation and disinfecting anyways, so there’s really not a lot of stuff different than what we normally do. The masks are new, and every client always gets a new cape. Any time someone gets up from a chair we sanitize the chair. It’s pretty much just going through two or three cans of Lysol daily,” said Camp.
The salon has also removed extra seating, has spaced stylist chairs to be at least six feet apart, and placed curtains between washing stations.
“Aside from rearranging, wearing masks and putting curtains up, it’s just our everyday, normal sanitation we always did. A lot more loads of laundry, for sure,” said Camp.
Camp urges clients to stay patient with salons and stylists due to the large influx of customers once salons opened.
“Right now, we’re doing appointments only and [customers need to] stay in their cars until we’re ready. We’re a very busy salon on a normal basis. Usually we’re booked out for a couple of weeks for appointments, right now we’re booked out for a couple of months. So, people just have to be patient that we have been shut down for two months. So, we’re trying to get everyone in. So, we’re pretty much restarting over from scratch as if we just opened,” said Camp.
Another village business, Chapman’s Coffee House on West Main Street, is working to provide for its customers during this uncertain time. Closed for four weeks, the shop has reopened, going from shorter hours to now full hours.
Chapman’s Coffee House is located on West Main Street in New Concord. They offer various coffees and teas as well as pastries and foods.
Chapman’s Coffee House owner, Garrett Chapman, said though they are still open, they are running on a limited menu.
“We are doing a limited menu to try and keep everything we have fresh and not let anything go bad. We’ve added in some homemade Pop-Tarts, which have been a nice draw. We’ve always had takeout and now our dine-in is back. So, that’s nice to have people sit down again,” said Chapman.
The coffee shop still offers most drinks, but parfaits, gluten-free muffins, and some fresher foods are not available.
Another food-related business in New Concord, Creno’s Pizza on East Main Street, has remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Owner Ryan Haynes said that even during COVID-19 and its effect on the shop, the business has stayed successful.
“We’re still above average, my yearly average, so we’re doing pretty good. In terms of its [COVID-19] effect on us, deliveries went up substantially because everyone was worried to go out and the stay at home orders. We kind of got a little busier on deliveries,” said Haynes.
Due to the closure of the dine-in portion of restaurants, Haynes saw a decrease in some other areas.
“They shut dine-ins down. So, that cut out on a lot of my daily construction workers in town working. Also, when they shut down, the college went home, so my lunch average went down,” said Haynes.
Though the pandemic affected the business, Haynes said Creno’s didn’t change their offerings.
“We kept the same menu. We were trying to keep everything as normal as we could for those customers. That way, it didn’t deter them away. We wanted to make everything so they felt more comfortable,” said Haynes.
Creno’s Pizza is located on East Main Street in New Concord. They offer a variety of pizzas, wings, and salads.
Haynes said they were already completing the cleaning routines that were needed due to the pandemic.
“We didn’t change much of what we do. All this cleaning and hygiene, we already do it day-to-day. We do this every day on a normal basis. The only thing that really changed for us was the masks. Every customer that came in, we sanitized stuff down. I did the Pepsi cooler and the door coming in and out after every customer because we wanted the safest environment,” said Haynes.
To stay connected to Allure Salon & Spa, follow them on Facebook or call the salon at (740) 826-0330.
To stay in touch with updates from Chapman’s Coffeehouse, follow them on Facebook and Instagram or call (740) 826-0299.
Creno’s Pizza in New Concord is on Facebook or call (740) 826-0077.
