Maharashtra Salon Industry to Reopen Post Meeting with Aaditya Thackeray
As Maharashtra takes a leap with #MissionBeginAgain, the state’s Salon industry is all set to reopen for business from 28th June 2020, with all the necessary precautions. The beauty & wellness industry that employs 15 lakh professionals, out of which 60% are women, is ready to welcome its patrons but this time not with open arms but by following social distance. The industry players have expressed their gratitude to CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray & Minister Aaditya Thackeray for listening to their concerns and supporting the industry.
As informed by the spokesperson of Maharashtra’s Salon industry, the reopening announcement comes within a week of 230 representatives from the Beauty & Wellness industry having an interaction with Cabinet Minister Aaditya Thackeray, via video conferencing. The minister is said to have stated that he would consider reopening the salon industry only after due assessment. He also assured the team that he and his office would study the Standard Operating Procedures for safety and discuss with others in the Government.
Representatives from every segment of the sector — barbershops and beauty parlours to salons and spas, training academies, product and equipment suppliers, and office bearers of several associations in the industry were a part of this crucial meeting with the minister. Some key names included salon chains like BBlunt, Bodycraft, Enrich, Envi, JCB Salons India, Juice, Kapil’s, Kaya, Lakme Salon, and Truefitt & Hill, industry experts including Adhuna Bhabani, Asha Hariharan, Hakim Aalim, Dr. Rekha Chowdhary, Seema Gopujkar, Savio Pereira, Vipul Chudasama, as well as associations such as AIBHA, ABTC, Rashtriya Nabhik Maha Mandal & Maha Samaj represented by Uday Takke, Bhagwan Bidave, Kalyani Dale and Datta Ansare.
While it has been a month since the salon industry has opened in other states, it was still not the case in Maharashtra. With losses piling up since the last few months, the industry had requested for a positive consideration with regards to the opening. The government reportedly got a sense of reassurance from the industry representatives on their capability to start operations without compromising on the health and safety of customers. The industry too saw a ray of positive light as the minister said that the slow opening-up is only to ensure that once opened, there is no case to enforce a lockdown again.
The salon industry has joined hands since the lockdown and created a Hygiene & Safety Protocol since consumer safety is now directly linked to business continuity. The new protocol was put together by the Beauty & Wellness Sector Skill Council, with inputs from the medical teams at AIIMS & Ministry of Skill Development. Version #2 has also been created by industry experts factoring inputs from states where the salons have re-opened and used for training and standard operating procedures that will be followed on the floor. In the other states, where the industry has re-opened since a month, salons have been following safety guidelines and protocols stringently and hence is confident that there has been no spike in transmissions that are attributed to this industry.