HC COVID-19 Updates, Protocols + Client Waiver
Hey Babe,WE MISS YOU! And we know you miss us, too--we've received so many messages showing us love and, of course, asking us when we are going to reopen. Like all of you, we are learning to adapt to the ways that COVID-19 is changing the way we live and work, and we want to keep you updated.
In our business, immaculate cleanliness and overall sanitation have always been key, and that's only going to become more true moving forward. As we learn how to work it out in this new normal, the health, safety and comfort of our staff and our clients will ALWAYS be our number one priority (right before helping you serve lewks).
That being said, we are taking our reopening process very seriously, and that means making every decision with extreme care.
Re-Opening Update
Given the extremely up-close and personal nature of our business, here is the plan we've made in order to best serve the cities that we love: the Holy Chic salon in RICHMOND will not reopen until the FIRST week of JUNE (6/2). This first week, the Richmond salon will hold a SOFT OPENING.
During this first week, the Richmond salon will be taking no more than FOUR SERVICES per nail artist, operating on limited hours from noon to 4 p.m.
The SECOND week of JUNE (6/9), both RICHMOND and FREDERICKSBURG will be opened up fully, operating on full hours Tuesday and Wednesday in Fredericksburg and on reduced hours in Richmond Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Throughout June and until further notice, we will permit no more than four clients at a time in the shop in order to make things as safe as possible. With the addition of our staff members, no more than 9 to 10 people will be permitted inside the salon at one time.
In order to maximize your HC experience and respect our amazing staff’s hustle during this time, we will be offering a limited menu of services with a focus on full services--that means no Gals on the Go, no extended nail art options and no Mystery Manis (for now). When you’re booking (more info on that below), if you don’t see a service in our booking system, that means it’s NOT something that we’re offering for the time being! We’re sad to see these services temporarily off the table, but we’ll still have gel specials, multi-colored manis, and other amazing services for you to choose from. We give you our word--you’re going to look CAYUTE!
As things progress, we'll give as many updates via social media as we can and will make further changes accordingly.
Booking and Appointment update
Listen up babes, we adore you but we don’t want to have to say this twice!
First off, any appointments made prior to this announcement--online, via DM, via carrier pigeon, girl we mean ANY attempted bookings--will be wiped from our books. We are starting with a clean slate. To make your booking, please keep reading.
Online booking for appointments scheduled for any time during the SECOND week of June and on, at both HC location, will be available through the booking page on our website and will be live midnight, May 29.
After a request is made, you MUST electronically acknowledge our HC COVID-19 client waiver detailing what we expect from clients during an appointment. This waiver will be accessible via a dedicated page on the HC website, and will be linked to in HC’s bio on Instagram. Requirements on the waiver will include (but are not limited to):
- Clients must wear a mask from the moment they enter the shop until the moment they leave.
- In order to stick to our 9 to 10 person safety limit inside the salon, clients will be asked to NOT bring guests with them for their appointments. Since we want to accommodate as many of our regulars as possible, group appointments will be made on a VERY limited case-by-case basis.
- Clients must wash their hands as soon as they enter the salon
- All clients must participate in contact-less temperature checks to enter the salon
- Clients booking pedicures must bring their own proper footwear (think: flip flops), as we will no longer provide in-house footwear
- All payments will be required to be electronic, no cash payments (bring out your plastic!).
- Our staff is working hard to make sure that you are getting your best service possible while feeling cozy and safe at the same time. In order to honor that, we are requiring a MANDATORY 25% gratuity on all services, via Venmo. If you DO NOT HAVE VENMO, we will charge this gratuity as part of your overall service transaction, at 28%.
- Notify us if you have traveled outside of the U.S. within 14 days, and if you have, please reschedule!
- If a client is feeling sick, we kindly but firmly request that they DO NOT come in.
To complete the waiver, we’ll only need your first and last name, contact information, and appointment date to acknowledge that you agree to our new COVID-19 guidelines (or our, *Dua Lipa voice* New Rules).
If you are a NEW CLIENT, we will also send you an online intake form that needs to be filled out before your appointment.
Once the waiver is signed, we will notify you if your appointment has been approved via email.
Whether you’re new or a regular, we will be calling EVERY client before their appointment to confirm. During this call, we’ll also confirm that you’ve signed our new COVID-19 policy waiver. *Extremely important info ahead* If we do not hear back from you within 24 hours of our confirmation call, your appointment will be AUTOMATICALLY CANCELLED. So please, don’t treat us like a bill collector. Pick up the phone!
Once you’re approved and have confirmed your appointment over the phone, it’s a date!
HOW IS HOLY CHIC CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT (A.K.A., SANITATION BUT MAKE IT FASHION)?
As we prepare to reopen, our team is going to be working hard and doing some intense training during these next few weeks to create a salon environment everyone can feel good about.
Starting this week, here's what we'll be doing:
- Deep cleaning the shop, from the window to the walls
- Brushing up on our skillz
- Updating staff certification on sanitation protocols via barbicide (she sounds scary, but she’s just an ass-kicking disinfectant!)
- Conducting daily employee health screenings, including touch-free temperature checks
- Sanitizing all surfaces after each service, and sanitizing the cash wrap after each transaction
- Posting safety instructions (a.k.a., the “what-we-expect-from-you’s”) inside and outside the shop
- All employees will wear masks and gloves throughout all services, and gloves will be thrown out and replaced after each service
- For sanitation reasons, we are temporarily suspending complimentary beverages and closing down our public bathroom (this one makes us sad, but it’s for the best. Make sure to hydrate and use the bathroom before coming in, babes!)
- Temporarily getting rid of the salon waiting area. For now, we kindly ask you to wait until your appointment time before coming to the salon (car jam sessions, anyone?). When it comes to picking your color, we’re going to set up a small table outside of the salon with a gel polish wheel for you to browse, and a big ol’ bottle of hand sanitizer for you to use after you’ve looked through the rings and made your picks. A digital color swatch catalogue that you can browse from home is coming soon, ~stay tuned!~
This new routine will make services a little longer, but we have made these decisions with the utmost care. We love our staff(!), and we want them to be ready mentally and physically so that they can give you all the full HC experience.
As we go on and more information from experts and health officials come in, we'll make adjustments that benefit everyone. Things are going to be different, but as always we at HC are committed to giving you iconic service. During this fluid time, we so, SO appreciate your cooperation, compassion and patience.
We’ll be adding a highlight to our Instagram that details all of our new COVID-19 procedures for you to review at any time. We at HC kindly ask you to look through it before sending us any questions, so that we can respond as quickly as possible to those who need additional info.
If you have any questions, the best place to contact us will always be on social media.
This is serious, this is weird, this is new. But above all, this is SOMETHING WE CAN GET THROUGH and have FUN while doing it. We can be sensible, honor each other’s right to a clean, comfy space, and laugh at the same time. We are so excited.
We love you all, we will give you only the best, and we can't wait to do this together.
XO - Team HC