Barberjan Brunswick: Barbers, hairdressers and beauticians fight lockdown
Barberjan in Brunswick is leading the fight for small businesses, including barbers, hairdressers and beauticians, to reopen after the State Government’s plans left them in the dark.
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This time last year Barberjan in Brunswick was popping the champagne after being named a finalist in the Australian Barber of the Year awards.
This year they’re rounding up small businesses far and wide just to be heard as they struggle through the coronavirus pandemic.
“We don’t want to protest but we want our voices heard, we are dying,” Barberjan director Jan Yamacli said.
“And it’s not just about our business being heard, it’s the community, we want to be a voice for the community.
“People need haircuts and if you looks good you feel good. We have been receiving so many messages from clients offering a lot of money to just cut their hair.”
Mr Yamacli said the current situation was creating anxiety for not just him, but clients of barbers, hairdressers and beauticians around Melbourne.
The studio is a fierce advocate of mental health, and Mr Yamacli said people not being able to come in and speak to their barber, or to have a positive place to visit where you leave feeling great about yourself, was a worry.
“Barbershops have always been a place to welcome all our community and make them look and feel good,” he said.
“It is also a place that men can speak man to man, and form a relationship with their barber.”
Mr Yamacli said his studio had seen more than a thousand people a month when they were allowed to be open during COVID, but not once client had tested positive.
“We are one of the industries leading the way of being hygienic, sanitising between each client, which is more than you can say for some other places,” he said.
“Visitors and clients at barbershops, hair salons, beauticians, tattoo parlours and gyms all provide their name, phone number & address so they are easy to track if something did happen, which is so unlikely anyway.”
And other hair salons, barbers and beauticians are getting on-board with the push to reopen.
Ellie Rose Hair Studio in Pascoe Vale has put similar signs up in their studio window.
Under the State Government’s current road map barbers, hair salons and beauticians won’t be able to open until at least October 26.
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