NJ Salon Owners to Reopen Despite Order: "I've Had Enough"
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: As states slowly reopening, some local business owners throughout the country feels the process moving too slowly fearing they can't survivor if they cannot open their doors to paying customers. Some owners are defying state and local orders to follow their own reopening plan. New Jersey's owners of Brick and Mirror Beauty Bar plan to do just that, open their doors despite the governor's orders, saying I've had enough. George Verdis and Nicholas Mirabela are co-owners of this salon and are joining me now. George, there are so many small business owners who are in the same situation as you guys, facing financial challenges. I understand this is a family's business and it is your father's salon. Tell me why you are opening despite New Jersey's orders.</s>GEORGE VERDIS, CO-OWNER, BRICK AND MIRROR BEAUTY BAR: What it comes down is honestly we have families to feed and we have employees that have families to feed. We are told from Governor Murphy that we'll be opening 15-day and it went to 15 more day or 30. There's not a plan on his end what day to open up. We discussed with our staff and my partner and implemented all the proper sanitation stuff that we need to follow the guidelines. We decided June 1st, we'll reopen and we'll be ready for business and take on clients. It is on them if they want to come into our salon. It is their choice just as our choice to open up. It is people's choice to stay home if they feel they are affected by COVID-19. We'll take every proper measure and step and we'll be reopening.</s>KEILAR: Nick, tell us the steps? Tell us about the precautions you're taking.</s>NICHOLAS MIRABELA, CO-OWNER, BRICK AND MIRROR BEAUTY BAR: Everyone is going to wear masks. If you can't wear masks, we have a protective cover for you. We'll have our staffs in protective equipment. And we'll sanitize each station between each client. When you walk in the building, you have 15 minutes to clean each station down between each client. We have 15 minutes to clean all the station down and wipe the tools off. And we have the customers wait in the car and when we are ready, we'll call them in. We'll limit the amount of people inside the building. We went through extreme measures to get our license.</s>VERDIS: We have strict code to follow sanitations.</s>MIRABELA: When it comes to partitions, we don't need them because we are spaced out. We'll limit everybody in and out of the building.</s>KEILAR: Nick, have you had any employees who had health concerns of coming back to work or have said I am not comfortable?</s>VERDIS: The majority of them are dying to go back to work. We have one employee, she's a little concerned, we told her to stay home. I don't want to force anyone to do anything they don't feel comfortable.</s>MIRABELA: Correct.</s>KEILAR: Will she get paid staying home?</s>VERDIS: She's on unemployment right now. They're collecting unemployment.</s>MIRABELA: The way we run our business is commissions.</s>KEILAR: No, I understand. I want to ask you, George, actually both of you this. New Jersey has been hard hit, you know that. More than 10,000 people have died there. Your state is not out of the woods yet. Do you worry, George, that opening your salon could contribute to people getting sick or maybe dying?</s>VERDIS: You know I got to be totally honest, Home Depot, Walmart is open and Target and all these places are opening. I asked all scientists, does COVID only exists in air salons. The governor made it apparent that this is not essential. I am concerned of everything. Everything is concerning. We can't live in fear. After 9/11, we would all still be home. We can't live in fear. That's the bottom line. We take as much precautions as we can. From then on in, it is what it is. We're not going to live in fear.</s>MIRABELA: It is not about making money. It is about survival. We are trying to get our business opened and get our staff here working so they can feed their families. Unemployment can only do so much. Especially in New Jersey. It is expensive to live here.</s>VERDIS: Sure is.</s>MARIABEL: For that few hundred a week you're getting, it is nothing in comparison to what you're making working at the salon.</s>KEILAR: Nick, what will you do if you will get fined? We've had people on that have reopened and they get fine to a tune of something they can't afford and ended up having to shut down. What are you going to do?</s>MARIBEL: To be honest, we have legal counsel and we'll defer to them and let them take it up the chain of command and do what we have to do. If we got to pay to survive and let our employees survive, that's what it is about, it is about our team. I don't mind getting fines if the girls and men that work for me could support their families. I am willing to take that risk.</s>KEILAR: Nick and George, thank you for joining us. We'll keep an eye on things as you do reopen.</s>VERDIS: Thank you.</s>KEILAR: We really appreciate your insight in this difficult situation for all small businesses. Thank you.</s>MIRABELA: Thank you.</s>VERDIS: Thank you.</s>KEILAR: Once you are infected, there are new warnings about the long- term psychiatric problems that are associated with coronavirus. We'll discuss. Plus, the NYPD shuts down an Orthodox Jewish school for violating the lockdown. See what happened there. And a medical journal fires back at the president mentioned that. in his threat to the World Health organization, it said something that wasn't true. Hear why they say his claim is B.S.