Some Whitehorse businesses getting ready to reopen following new guidelines

Reopening guidelines for personal service establishments, such as salons and tattoo shops, are getting a warm welcoming fromsome business representatives in Whitehorse.

"They actually are a lot more relaxed than we first thought they might be," Shari Mcintosh, a partner of Head to Toe beauty salon in Whitehorse, said on Wednesday.

The guidelines were first released to business owners before being released publicly later in the week.

They include requiring physical-distancing signs near entrances, spacing workstations two metres apart, and having employees self-assessthemselves before going to work using a tool on the Yukon government's website.

Mcintosh said she and her colleagues started making the salon safer before the guidelines came out.

Among the changes, the salon now has Plexiglass barriers to separate employees and customers, and there are plastic bagsat the entrance of the shopfor people to put their cellphones and keys in.

Mcintosh said she estimates the costof these changeshasreached about $7,000.

Plans to 'come back sharp'

"I'm pleased with the guidelines," said Dan Bushnell, an owner of Molotov & Bricks Tattoo in Whitehorse.

He said given how focused his and other tattoo shops already are on cleanliness, he doesn't see the guidelines having as much of an impact compared to what other businesses may face.

Masks for people who don't have them, and hand sanitizer products will make up some of the biggest costs related to reopening, Bushnell said on Friday.

The current plan is to open the tattoo shop with a soft-opening approach, possibly as early as June 1, starting with friends and family first as customers, before opening up services to more people.

"We've been out of work for two and a half months, and we just want to make sure that when we come back, we come back sharp," Bushnell said.

"For me, the hardest part of this is going to be losing a sense of community," he said, adding that, normally, people were encouraged to gather at the shop to hang out.