Orcutt barber reacts to Governor Newsom’s new order for closure

ORCUTT, Calif. - Hair salons and barbershops were among those ordered to close in Santa Barbara County due to their potential to spread the coronavirus. Businesses reacted to the announcement on Monday.

This is part of Governor Newsom's effort to slow the spread of coronavirus as the number of cases continues to spike in the county and across California.

Beacon Barber Shop is an institution in Orcutt. The only time it has closed since 1963 was earlier this year because of the pandemic, and now they will close again because of Governor Newsom's new order.

The owner, Kevin Pischke, said it makes him nervous for both the business and his staff.

The pandemic has already severely affected his revenue. He feels that their shop took every precaution possible to make sure nobody would get sick.

"We've had to make a ton of modifications just to, not only buy equipment and protective gear, but just the way we run our business," said Pischke. "Our business has been on a walk-in only basis since 1963. We've had to switch over to appointments which has dramatically affected our flow in our business as well as our revenue."

The barbershop implemented temperature checks at the door. They bought and handed out masks to customers.

The barbershop also took out one of their four chairs so that the other three could be spaced more than six feet apart. This has meant they can only have three barbers working at a time instead of four.

On Monday, Pischke made calls to customers with appointments to cancel. He wishes he could tell them when they will reopen again, but the governor has not said when that might be.