Kirkcaldy hair salons and retailers' busy first day as lockdown restrictions eased

Town hairdressers and barber shops opened on Monday with many locals ready for their pre-booked appointments.

Long-established operators Dom Panetta, who owns Migele Experience, and Ronnie Marshall, who owns Byron Hairdressing, were both delighted to be back in their salons.

Dom said: “I have been looking forward to welcoming my clients back into the salon.

"Most of our clients are like friends - and when you haven’t seen your friends for ages you miss them. For the first two weeks we will work on longer appointment times so that the team get into their stride without being stressed out.

"Everyone is so excited to be back. The salon has been thoroughly cleaned from top to bottom ready to entertain our very special guests - our clients. We have invested in a new pair of razor sharp scissors as there’s lots of hair to be cut and re-styled!”

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Ronnie said: “We are at the finishing line of this total lockdown and the starting line to brighter days ahead.

“We are looking forward to seeing all our salon guests over the coming weeks and we wish all our fellow hairdressers success as we open our salon doors again today.”

Also looking forward to opening up is Kerry Morris, owner of relatively new hairdressing salon Bellissima Lounge in the town’s Commercial Street.

Kerry opened the salon in October 2019 and only had a short run at it before she had to close for the first lockdown in March 2020.

Kerry, who has been a hairdresser for 16 years, has always wanted to have her own business.

She previously rented chairs in other businesses before opening her own salon: “There are four of us altogether – two self-employed hairdressers and one lash technician – she does eyebrows and lashes but won’t be working until April 26,” she said.

"We all have our own sections we are working in so we are able to socially distance and we have a screen at the desk, our masks and other PPE.

"Everyone is really looking forward to getting their hair done and getting pampered again. I have gone from working part-time to full-time so I am opening up spaces for new clients. We will be open six days a week for the first two weeks and then going back to our normal five days a week after the first fortnight.”

She added: “I think some of us are a bit anxious because we have been away for a while but after we have been back a week, we will be back into the swing of it.”

Another hairdressing business, Signature Salon, in Commercial Street opened on Monday too with owner Liza Cummings looking forward to welcoming clients back.

Also opening this past week are non-essential stores, which includes home and giftware company Home of Hopcroft based in Merchants House.

Owner Charlene Hopcroft said: “Monday was amazing. The shop was buzzing and everyone was excited to be able to come in at last! We had an exceptionally successful first day and we hope this continues as the community chooses to support local.”

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