In salon suites, stylists eke through pandemic

As the calendar flipped to March, Kerry Tolisano admits she was uncertain about the wisdom of getting on a flight to Cancun for a meeting with fellow My Salon Suite franchisees, given escalating warnings about potential coronavirus travel bans.

Tolisano opted to go to Mexico, collecting a “franchisee of the year” award while there — but with last year’s job no comparison to the work in 2020 to get her Connecticut salon tenants back up and running, after being forced to close between March and June in an effort to contain COVID-19.

Tolisano and spouse Jay have three My Salon Suite locations in Fairfield, Shelton and Stamford, which have maxed out their available capacity leasing suites to just over 80 tenants across the three locations. All saw their businesses upended by Gov. Ned Lamont’s executive order for salons to close March 20, with the order not lifted until early June and rules governing sanitizing salons and limited client visitations.

That left the Tolisanos scrambling to ready their suites for the reopening, even as they waived rent for their tenants who are solo entrepreneurs spanning hair and beauty services, some with limited track records that put them at the back of the line for some business assistance programs that have emerged in the wake of the pandemic.

“We needed to ... make sure that these professionals were not responsible for rent during the shutdown, because our goal is to get everyone back in — and make sure they get back without having debt hanging over their heads,” Tolisano said. “Our business wouldn’t be possible without them; their business wouldn’t be possible without us. It’s a ... symbiotic relationship.”

The Tolisanos found helping hands along the way themselves, including from their own landlords in Fairfield, Shelton and Stamford who extended concessions on their lease terms. A business partner owned a cleaning business, so the Tolisanos were able to get a ready supply. And after seeing a Face-book post about a window treatments company in Waterbury called Porter Preston that had begun making face shields, she put in an inquiry.

“Within two days they showed up at my doorstep,” she said. “It was pretty cool.”

But coronavirus hit hard on other fronts, with Jay’s mother contracting the virus at her nursing home — she recovered — and some My Salon Suite tenants going onto unemployment compensation, as independent contractors have been allowed to do for the first time under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act with more than 60,000 in Connecticut currently drawing benefits. In some instances, Tolisano said, that was the result of having to stay home to mind children after schools closed in March.

Tolisano estimates about one in every four tenants landed Paycheck Protection Program loans that banks are forgiving under U.S. Department of the Treasury rules for businesses that do not lay off employees — easy money for independent contractors who by definition have no other workers on the payroll.

Nicole DaSilva sought aid herself — unsuccessfully — after starting up her eyelash and makeup spa Nicole Taylor Beauty only last autumn at My Salon Suite in Shelton, fresh out of cosmetology school. She said business volume has more than doubled since the reopening, however, with some clients wanting to showcase their eyelashes now that their faces are hidden behind masks that are mandatory in public settings.

“It came in the blink of an eye,” DaSilva said. “I think everyone’s in a rut with themselves, and they want to do something to make themselves feel better.”

As the case with other salons under Connecticut’s reopening rules, salon customers must schedule appointments in advance so that people do not congregate in lobbies. Facilities like My Salon Suite, Phenix Salon Suites and Salons by JC have one in-built advantage in the coronavirus era — interior architecture that divides salons into individual rooms rather than open bays, limiting exposure to other clients during visits.

Tolisano said their current franchise agreement allows for two more locations locally, which she expects in time they will exercise amid any layoffs by larger salons that open up the possibility for stylists to strike out on their own.

“If, unfortunately, you left a salon that you had been at for 20 years to start your own business two months before coronavirus hit, then you were in a really tough spot,” Tolisano said. “We have seen an increase in [tenant] interest since the reopening.”

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-842-2545; @casoulman