Life in the beauty business hasn't been pretty during Pennsylvania's shutdown.
But, Maggie King is hoping to change that.
Her 'MKUP: The Beauty Studio' boutique hasn't seen a customer since the start of the shutdown. Instead, King has been relying on online product sales to bring in cash flow.
King opened again for the first time since the shutdown as York County moved into the green phase Friday.
Businesses still face restrictions in the green phase. Read what the restrictions are here.
"Now that we posted that we're open today bookings are flying in," said King.
King said around 75% of her business is based on wedding services. Each year, her beauty studio provides services to around 100-200 weddings a year. But, much of that wedding business is based around the months of April through December. And, many of her brides are now working to reschedule as others are working to grab one of the coveted appointment slots still left open.
York County President Commissioner Julie Wheeler was one of the first people who walked into King's doors Friday to greet her.
"Now it's about getting their clients back in and making sure their clients want to feel safe and come into their facilities," said Wheeler about the hurdles that still lie ahead for small business owners.
Social distancing can get tough for make-up artists and other professionals in the beauty business who have direct contact with customers. But King said her shop has taken extra precautions to protect everyone.
"As estheticians, we were always crazy about sanitization and wiping things down," said King.
Now, temperatures are also taken at the door. Automatic soap dispensers have been added to the bathrooms. Beds no longer have linen coverings so staff can wipe and sanitize them more easily. The studio also purchased specific medical-grade sanitizers.
"For ourselves, we will be wearing masks as obviously we can't make our clients wear masks," said King.
King said much of her staff works directly at events so they are able to easily practice social distancing inside the studio. She removed two of her 4 beauty chairs in order to enable a 6-foot distance between clients. Brides who come in for beauty trials must also now come alone and not with family and friends.
"Emotion wise, I'm just glad to be back in the groove of things and doing what I love," said King.
Wheeler noted, even as York County moves into the green phase business owners still face restrictions. However, she said she is "personally relieved and elated" that the county has made it to this point and she credited the people of York County for making it happen. Still, she recognizes many people continue to need help.
"Before we found out that we were getting any money from the CARES act, York County, The Economic Alliance, and the Planning Commission got together and we formed a grant loan fund for small businesses to help them (small business owners) get back on their feet. That’s being administered by community first fund so we’ll be officially launching that sometime in the next week or so," said Wheeler, who noted the county received nearly $40 million from that CARES ACT funding.
"Roughly 4,000 of the 9,000 small businesses in our community have been significantly impacted by COVID-19," said Wheeler. She added, "It's essential. We need the retail back. We need the small businesses back to thrive in our community."
Wheeler said any small business owner who is still looking for assistance can find state assistance here at the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Owners can also turn to https://www.preparedyork.com/