Signs of normalcy: Scenes from Western Pennsylvania in the green phase
Western Pennsylvania moved to the green phase of the state’s tiered reopening plan at 12:01 a.m. Friday, a step into a semblance of normalcy not seen since mid-March.
Under the green phase, nail salons, barbershops, gyms and bowling alleys are among the businesses permitted to reopen, under certain restrictions. And restaurants will be allowed to provide sit-down service, although with limited seating.
The Tribune-Review is out and about throughout the region as businesses reopen to patrons for the first time in months.
‘Very good response’
The Aerobics Center at Lynch Field in Greensburg saw eight people sign up for new memberships Friday, said manager Marianne Anzovino. The free weight room seemed to be popular during the morning. Exercisers took to group classes while others were able to space themselves out on workout machines.
“It’s been a very good response thus far, very steady,” said Roman Carloni, assistant manager.
He used a disinfectant to spray down exercise machines at 2 p.m. Friday, one application of many throughout the day. The crowd had thinned out as normal by then with a few people exercising in each room.
“I was very encouraged about the amount of new sign ups today,” Carloni said.
— Renatta Signorini
‘It’s been a long haul’
Clipps Salon in Regent Square opened Friday morning for the first time since the shut down.
“I’m a little nervous,” said owner Angela Malecki of Murrysville.
She said there would be six stylists working today, and each would see one customer per person, depending on the service being provided. They were not permitted to take walk-ins.
“It’s been a long haul,” she said.
Angela Malecki, own Clipps Salon in Regent Square. She reopened today. pic.twitter.com/zHy64CeuNP
— Ben Schmitt (@bencschmitt) June 5, 2020
Malecki said stylists have been sanitizing for years in an effort to prevent the potential spreading of viruses, but the coronavirus restrictions were a different animal.
“This is a little bit more strict, but that’s OK, we can do it,” she said.
— Ben Schmitt
‘They look shaggier than she does’
Several people were gathered outside of Great Clips at the Pittsburgh Mills complex in Frazer, where franchise owner Marie Bates said she was open with limited capacity and services.
In addition to those standing outside, Bates said she had 30 more who had checked-in online.
“My staff’s ready,” she said. “I’m really excited to be reopen.”
Sharon Reibert, of East Deer, was among customers waiting outside for their turn. She hadn’t had her hair done since late January.
“I’ve cut it myself a little bit,” she said.
Reibert said she was “very happy” to be able to get her hair done.
“My granddaughter is getting married,” she said. “All I wanted was to get my hair done.”
Lisa Hnatowcq, of West Deer, was waiting outside Great Clips with her daughter, Arielle, 2, who was too young to get her hair cut while her sons Jeremy, 12, and Jacob, 4, were getting theirs cut inside.
“They look shaggier than she does,” Hnatow said.
Hnatow said she tried to cut Jeremy’s hair, because it was really long and getting in his eyes.
“Jacob told me he needed a professional,” she said. “He saw what I did to Jeremy’s hair.”
Hnatow said she’ll get her hair cut eventually.
“I’m glad everybody’s reopen and getting back to work,” she said.
‘Dine-in beer is always better than takeout’
Three friends from the North Hills arrived at Hofbrauhaus in Pittsburgh’s South Side at 10:45 a.m. On the way to the front entrance, Nathan Fairman, 24, said he paid the parking meter $9 to ensure they had a spot for six hours.
“This place always felt like a second home to us because they always treat us well,” Fairman said, waiting outside for the restaurant to open its doors to dine-in patrons for the first time since March. “The cleanliness is nice, the bartenders are always very personable.”
“Beer’s good too,” said Zachary Fehr, one of Fairman’s friends. With that, the three friends laughed and made their way to the restaurant’s outdoor seating area to order their first brews.
“Dine-in beer is always better than takeout,” Brandon Flaherty said.
Inside, the main seating area was empty, with most tables and benches in storage to ensure proper social distancing guidelines. The three friends were among a half-dozen patrons with reservations scheduled for the restaurant’s 11 a.m. opening.
One of the managers, Tony Loukas, 49, of the South Hills said he expects the mad rush to happen around dinner time.
“We’re booked through the weekend,” he said. So those hoping to walk in and grab a seat for dinner might have a bit of a wait, Loukas said.
Under government guidelines, restaurants must only allow half its max occupancy inside. For Hofbrauhaus, that’s around 325. That means the restaurant will only operate with half of its staff, as well, Loukas said.
And the bar scene inside the restaurant will be different, too. Loukas said the bar has been broken into sections, only allowing three to four people stand or sit at the bar at a time.
Patrons will also notice plexiglass between booths and at the front check-in counter. The menus are all disposable and tech-savvy patrons are encouraged to scan QR codes displayed around the dining room. The codes take patrons to a digital copy of the menu. And until Pennsylvania moves to a less restrictive reopening plan, the restaurant will not have live music.
“Anything that incites large gatherings, we can’t do,” Loukas said. “It’s different … but we’re excited to get things going again.”
— Dillon Carr
‘Everything’s open again, and that’s the best thing’
There were far fewer stools at the bar, but the regular early morning crowd at Pagano’s Restaurant in New Stanton was happy to be back for a shot and a beer.
“Everything’s open again, and that’s the best thing,” said Randy Parker of Hempfield, who had a Yuengling and shot of Jim Beam. “You have to use your brains about it.”
The lounge was back Friday, opening at 7 a.m. to cater to those who work overnight or, in Parker’s case, are retired from the midnight shift. He met up with Tommy Overly of Hunker and a couple other friends.
The morning news played on the television while bartender Kelly Kalp chatted with them — a ritual resumed as Overly, who had just finished work, ordered a Miller Genuine Draft and a shot of Crown Royal.
It’s been about 20 years that they’ve been meeting up at Pagano’s bar while sunlight streams in through the doors, Overly said. Both he and Parker questioned how businesses are going to enforce the rules. Six stools sat 6 feet apart at the bar, which normally has 15 to 20 chairs. About 10 seats had been taken away from tables in the seating area.
“People will adapt and figure it out,” Kalp said. “Now, our customers are cut down so much.”
The bar normally sees overnight workers after their shifts end and some afternoon regulars while the restaurant side opens in the late morning, she said. But fewer customers means less tips for servers and bartenders like her.
“We live on our tips,” she said.
— Renatta Signorini
‘Anxious and awaiting’
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer also reopened Friday. New Dimension Comics reopened its store inside the mall, which had been closed since March 15, assistant regional manager Scott Smith said.
In addition to requiring masks, which the mall also requires, the store had a traffic flow pattern set up, spread out its registers, plexiglass at checkouts and more cleaning, Smith said.
“The whole staff is being checked and reporting if they don’t feel well,” he said. ‘We’re trying to make it as safe as possible for everyone.”
“It’s exciting,” Smith said of reopening. “I know a lot of people have been anxious and awaiting it. We’re happy to be back.”
‘Nice to get people back in here’
Kirk Massart has been running Massart’s Restaurant in Tarentum since 1986. It was founded by his grandfather, Jake Massart, in 1923.
Massart said he’s never been through an experience like the shutdown of the couple of months, and figures it was the hardest time for the restaurant since his grandfather went through the Great Depression.
After having been take-out only, Friday was the first day patrons could eat-in, and Massart said it was better than he was expecting.
“Breakfast was busier than I thought it would be,” he said. “It’s nice. We have a lot of steady customers we haven’t seen in a while. It’s nice to get people back in here.”
Mickey Krajci, of Harrison, was among those eating in at Massart’s Friday, which he said was, “Beautiful.”
“It’s like a homey atmosphere here,” he said, adding that he had no concerns.
While he came for take-out once or twice a week, “It’s not the same,” he said.
While limited to half capacity, 36, Massart wasn’t sure he could fit that many in and keep the required distancing in the small eatery. “It’s not the people, it’s the 6 feet thing,” he said. “I’m doing the best I can.”
‘A little nervous, but excited too’
Jeff Chicklo’s been a barber for 17 years, but he admits being “a little nervous, but excited too” when he reopened his shop on Lowry Avenue for the first time in 83 days 8 a.m. Friday.
“It’s been since March 14 or whatever… so it’s a little weird. But I’m glad to be back,” said Chicklo, a third generation barber.
Longtime customer Ken Wallace of Penn was also happy to have a professional cut.
“It feels great. I was cutting it myself and my wife would chop the back… it was bad,” Wallace laughed.
“I’ll be back every two weeks now,” Wallace said as he climbed out of the Chicklo’s barber’s chair.
Chicklo said he usually scheduled Thursday and Friday appointments 15 minutes apart, but until further notice they’ll be 20 minutes apart.
“It’s sanitation, sanitation, sanitation now. I’ll need the extra time to disinfect after every customer,” he said.
Chicklo said his telephone has been “ringing off the hook”with customers wanting to make appointments since Gov. Tom Wolf announced Westmoreland County would “be going green” today.
Chicklo said redular customers were texting him photographs of their at home, self cuts during the pandemic.
Wallace said he also texted his barber.
“‘Jeff, I need you back… my wife is chopping my hair,’ I told him,” Wallace said.
Chicklo said he was so anxious about his return that he practiced clipping hair off the back of his 16-year-old son’s neck Thursday afternoon to get back in action.
“I guess I’m a guinea pig, too, today,” said Wallace, who was Chicklo’s second customer.
To catch up with customer demands, Chicklo expects to work until 9 p.m., or 13 hours today, and probably tomorrow too, and he’ll also work Monday, usually a day off.
— Paul Peirce
‘You have no idea how excited I am’
The Valley Dairy restaurant in Unity Township saw about a dozen customers arrive for renewed dine-in eating between 8 and 9 a.m. Friday, June 5.
Joe Wyant, the Latrobe-based company’s director of training, said Valley Dairy’s 12 regional locations are all open for indoor dining, a week after its restaurants in Cranberry and DuBois led the way, as the state’s covid-19 restrictions gradually were rolled back.
To make the Unity store compliant with social distancing, he said, the normal indoor seating of more than 110 has been cut in half, with six tables added on an outside patio.
Regular customer Bonnie Springer got up before 7 a.m. Friday to drive to the restaurant with husband, Bob, from their home in Cook Township.
They’ve enjoyed take-out fish from Valley Dairy over the past few weeks.
Valley Dairy also held carhop events at some of its restaurants, including the Unity location, to help attract business while dine-in service was prohibited.
Bonnie Springer was eager to sit down to enjoy a breakfast special.
“You have no idea how excited I am. I’d rather dine in,” she said. “It’s the people.”
Springer enjoys interacting with the staff and other customers who have become friends.
“They customize your orders,” she said of the staff. “When you’re ahere a few times, they remember you.”
Before the pandemic, she said, “groups of us would come in to eat at about the same time, and we all got to know each other. Soon you get to know everybody. It’s a very friendly atmosphere.”
Springer still regrets that she has to greet friends at a distance in the restaurant.
“I’m going to miss the fact that we can’t all sit together like we used to,” she said. “We’d start talking back and forth.”
Wyant said staff at the restaurant hourly change utensils on the grill and sanitize high-touch areas including door handles and faucets. Hand sanitizer and a plastic shield are in place at the checkout counter.
There were six people working the morning shift, more than usual, to “have an extra person to be walking around and sanitizing,” he said.
For now, the staff also are responsible for wiping down menus between customers, but disposable placemat versions are on order, Wyant said.
“We want to be sure we’re keeping our customers and our staff safe,” he said.
Shawn Baum of Derry Borough said he had no concern about bringing his son Cullen, 2, to the Valley Dairy for pancakes.
“I think if everybody just for the most part does their job, washes their hands, just common sense, I think we’ll be OK and getting back to normal here very shortly,” he said.
— Jeff Himler
‘Good to see you again’
It’s one of those old-fashioned barber shops, a one-man operation with a swirling red, white and blue striped poll out front. Don’t expect to get a manicure here. But men can once again come in for a haircut.
For the first time in 14 weeks, Rick’s Barber Shop in Blawnox is open for business.
“It feels wonderful to be back,” said owner Rick Aten, an Oakmont resident. “The phone hasn’t stopped ringing since 5:30 last night.”
Rick’s devoted customers have been overwhelming him with visits and calls to see how soon they can schedule a haircut.
“When do you want to come in? I got a packed shop,” he tells a caller.
Indeed, several men are waiting in a small outer area of the tiny shop, as many as can safely social distance while they wait for service. The waiting area is separated by a clear, plastic shower curtain from the two barber chairs situated toward the back wall of the shop. He expects to keep the curtain up for the next 18 months.
“It’s been terrible for us business folks. We didn’t ask for this. It is what it is,” Aten said said.
“Don’t ever color your hair,” he advised a 30-something blond-haired customer. “Good to see you again. God bless.”
Aten is a two-time cancer survivor who recently underwent heart surgery. But he says he is on his feet six days a week from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. He can’t afford to take more than a one day off a week.
“I’m backlogged for three weeks,” he said.
— Paul Guggenheimer
‘I love the customers’
Jamie Henderson of Greensburg was glad to be back at work Friday morning, holding clippers and scissors after the past 10 weeks of a government-imposed shutdown of Comrades Barber Shop in Greensburg, where he works.
“I love the customers, and I love to be able to talk to people and get back to some sense of normalcy,” Henderson said as he cut the hair of John Weaver of Greensburg.
Henderson said he did not violate the governor’s orders and cut hair on the side for two good reasons — he did not want to lose his barber’s license and did not want to be exposed to the coronavirus, which could have led him to infect his family.
“My wife is a cancer survivor, and my mom is 87,” Henderson said.
Henderson said missed the income he earned from his trade, as he has done the past two decades. He had to dip into his savings over the past two months and was able toget help from the $600 weekly federal weekly unemployment benefits. But, he has yet to receive any unemployment compensation as an independent contractor.
The good news for Henderson is that he will not wait for customers next week, as the phone has been ringing constantly the past few days.
“I’m booked solid for a week,” Henderson said.
One of the youngest customers to walk through Comrades’ door Friday was 3-year-old Arlo Hays, the son of Jack and Brooke Hays of Greensburg. Accompanied by his father, the boy hesitated slightly by his father’s side, before his dad walked him over to the chair and climbed onto the booster seat on Joseph Maggio’s barber chair.
“He’s been coming here for years,” Jack Hays said.
He admitted he tried cutting his son’s hair, but did not do a very good job at it.
As customers came into the shop, Henderson had to remind them they could not wait inside anymore. As a not too subtle reminder, all of the chairs were removed from the waiting area.
— Joseph Napsha
‘Patriotism is really running thick’
Friday was a relatively quiet day for Roadman’s Country Living, a home goods shop in Unity Township.
According to owner Tammy Lapson of Greensburg, about 25 people stopped by late afternoon at the store, which offers merchandise from candles and home décor to specialty foods.
“I think everybody was waiting to get pedicures, manicures and haircuts today,” she said.
Lapson’s customers included Dale Felice, an Army veteran of Conemaugh Township, Cambria County, who purchased incense sticks and treats for his trip home. He said some of the store’s decorative items inspire his creations as a chain saw carver.
Lapson and Felice are glad for the area’s transition into the green phase of reopening.
“These small businesses are suffering and they need to get open as soon as possible,” Felice said. “It’s sad to see them put in all their hard work into a business and then not succeed in the long run.”
A single mom, Lapson had to furlough her eight employees when her business was deemed nonessential and was forced to close its doors during the early stages of the pandemic.
She’s operating the store by herself, with reduced hours Tuesdays through Saturdays, but hopes for a return to normalcy.
Lapson said face coverings are optional in her store. “We’re keeping things clean and the staff to a minimum, and we never get big giant lines (of customers),” she noted.
Lapson kept her business alive by initially offering curbside pickup of merchandise that customers selected from a video of her inventory she posted on social media.
Her busiest day was her “soft opening” when Westmoreland entered the “yellow” phase.
“Customers were waiting for us in the parking lot and honking their horns,” she said. “We sold loads of florals, specialty food items and candles and wreaths.”
She sold out of U.S. flags but just got in a new shipment.
“I think patriotism is really running thick right now,” she said.
— Jeff Himler
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