Salons in Santa Maria, Orcutt hold off on reopening indoors

SANTA MARIA, Calif. - Salon owners across Santa Barbara County are upset.

"I’m frustrated more than being upset ... being told to do some thing with no answers when we know that we are 100 percent safer than anywhere else," said co-owner John Nickason of Pink Blossom Salon.

Several salons in Santa Maria and Orcutt decided not to reopen its services a week after announcing plans to do so.

Pink Blossom Salon spent the day spreading these messages of “love and light” on the salon windows.

“It's a kind of solidarity to the industry but not do anything that could be used against us,” said co-owner Kristi Nickason with Pink Blossom Salon.

The decision to stay closed came after a Friday news conference where the Santa Barbara Public Health said salons could be fined for reopening indoor services.

"We truly Understand the closure of all businesses. and we hope we can reopen businesses safely," said Van Do-Reynoso with the Santa Barbara County Public Health.

Hair stylists at Pink Blossom Salon have been out of work for several weeks.

“I’m very upset ... this is my passion ... I’ve done here for 30 years and so to be told that we can’t do it when we feel we are in a safe environment is difficult,” said hair stylist Inge Garvin.

Pink Blossom salon owners say while they want to offer their services, they want to make sure they do it with integrity.

“I wanted to do it tactfully because I don’t want people to be giving fuel to this fire they’re trying to create saying that we’re not being sensitive to the fact that we’re trying to keep you guys safe," said Kristi Nickason.

Owners of Pink Blossom Salon have reached out to government officials and say they will continue to fight for their industry.