Women Of Influence

It’s been a long two months for Charles Penzone Inc. but the salon chain is going to take an extra two days before welcoming customers back.

Although the state is allowing hair and nail salons to reopen Friday, the six Penzone Salons + Spa locations around Central Ohio will take two days for internal training and team-building before accepting clients on Sunday, May 17.

“We're gonna walk through everything with them and take that time for them to feel comfortable with all of these new procedures,” said president and CEO Debbie Penzone. “And also, we're all about self-care. And we realize that you have to take care of you first before you can give to others. So we're going to actually have those two days that they can practice on each other with all of these new protocols, and get their hair done and be able to feel so confident and so ready on Sunday.”

The salons and the Royal Rhino Club Barbershop & Lounge in Italian Village will operate at about 50% of their previous capacity to accommodate new guidelines for social distancing, with the physical layout and scheduling times more spread out. Penzone said they hope to make up for that lost capacity by extending hours, including opening on Sundays.

“We really wanted to make sure all of our team when they come back will have all the hours that they need, for all of our benefits that we provide,” she said. “No one is not getting their hours because of the extension of how long the day will be.

“And we're going to do them in shifts, which is nice,” she said. “We'll have two different schedules that will work one day. I think that's very important, too, so they’ll not have to work a really long day ever, because we really want them to take care of themselves and ease their way back in and have that care for themselves as well.”

To wear, or not wear a mask

Penzone was a key member of the group of salon owners and operators that developed the Responsible RestartOhio plan that includes a mix of mandatory and recommended steps for salons in the state as they reopen during the coronavirus pandemic. Penzone said in addition to the mandatory guidelines, they’re adopting many of the recommended ones as well, including masks for both employees and customers.

“Our team will have masks on. Some services that might be a closer service, like aesthetician or a skin service, she might also have a shield on as well as the mask,” Penzone said. “We also have plexiglass dividers that we have built that we will be putting throughout the locations that are just one more barrier that we can set up.

“We'll be asking (customers) to wear a mask in every one of our salons and spas and barbershops,” she said. “And they can bring their own face covering or mask, or we will also have some if they need one. And we just want to be that flexible. We just feel like when you see the research of two people having it on at the same time, and how that really protects each person in that close distance that we've allowed now with the personal service being delivered, we feel that we want to go that route.

“As a recommended best practice, we want to do all of that and beyond, because we really want to be known as the safest, cleanest salon in the United States.”

In the latest episode of our Crisis Management podcast, Penzone also talks about the uncertainty over spending its PPP funding, how the business is caring for its employees during the shutdown, and her hopes for the future.