PORTLAND, Ore. — Chris Vandehey, owner of Style on Second, has been on this downtown corner for more than three decades. The COVID-19 pandemic is the greatest business challenge he's ever faced.
He and longtime colleague Laura King have lost more than half their business since the shutdown. And despite following health guidelines step by step for a safer reopening, that business has not returned.
"Some of our clientele have conditions and they need to be careful, and yes they wanna come, but they're afraid to come," said Vandehey.
"What we're experiencing now with COVID-19 is causing just a fundamental change in so many people's lives," said Laura King. "One thing that it's doing is accelerating retirement plans that people had. Life changes are happening for a lot of people at a very accelerated rate."
Some of those other changes include downtown office workers now working from home. A downtown salon used to be an asset; now, that crowd is staying closer to home. And some just aren't getting their hair done at all. King has seven clients that have decided to embrace the gray.
"Obviously I'm not coloring my hair anymore" she said. "I think it's better health-wise and also for the environment. So I support it. But on the other hand, your hair color clients are really the anchor in any salon."
Meanwhile, Vandehey is head of his nonprofit Taste of Style. Every fall the organization has held a fantasy hair event that raises money for local charity, while giving local hair stylists an outlet to show off their talents. That event will be a mostly virtual experience this year.
He's an educator and an artist, and he's so very human.
"I love working with my clients, actually my clients at this time are helping me go through the pandemic," Vandehey said. "It makes me feel like I have something to live for for still."
For King, the best part of the job is those relationships with her clients.
"I've always loved my job," she said. "I've loved the client relationships and the interactions you, when you've done someone's hair for a long period of time, you have a very special relationship with that person. You hear things that they may not even tell their best friends. You hear about their families, you see videos of the kids. And the next thing you know, the kids are off to college and then pretty soon they're having their own children ... I would feel a real loss if I wasn't working here and all those people were instantly out of my life."