A pair of hairdressers are moving ahead with plans to open a new salon, despite fears of a looming second lockdown.
Salon Fierce, is owned by friends and business partners Ashley Carroll and Nicola Rooney, will open its second branch on Strathmore Avenue to customers on November 17.
And although they are trying to stay positive, they have admitted however they are aware a second lockdown would get the new shop off to the worst start imaginable.
Ashley said: “We’re really excited to open up, but obviously we are a wee bit scared because of this second lockdown thing.
“I think that right now we’re just trying to stay positive about the whole thing. I’m really hoping it doesn’t happen but Nicola is a bit more concerned.
“If it does happen and there is another lockdown we’ll just have to get through it, go with it. I think that we’ll be able to get each other through the worst of it anyway.”
The hairdressing duo opened their first location earlier this year, just a few months before lockdown.
Since reopening they have seen a huge boom in business, with many customers eager to be groomed after six months stuck indoors.
Ashley added: “We’re doing really well, whenever we’ve been open we’ve always been busy but now we’ve got a really big client base which is helping us out a lot.
“It’s actually part of the reason why we’ve chosen to open another place, it’s going to be bigger and there will be more space for us to serve people.
“We’re also going to have more staff, which means that me and Nicola will have more free time because we were struggling to find days off before.”
The Strathmore Avenue salon has been designed with social distancing in mind.
Screens between chairs have been provided to keep customers safe, and the building is big enough to allow for people to stay apart.
Many of the pair’s customers have already expressed their excitement about the expansion, with Ashley saying: “The customers and the new staff are both really excited.
“We’ve got our loyal customers which is great, and some of our staff are going to be bringing in new customers too.
“It’ll just be a good change for us, and hopefully in another couple of years we might be looking at opening somewhere else.
“The first lockdown was a bit of a whirlwind, but when your customers are as loyal as ours there’s not as much to worry about.”
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