For the latest details of Gov. Kim Reynolds' public health proclamation and what businesses will be allowed to reopen starting Friday, click here.
Local 5 News: What have the last couple of hours been like for you and I imagine other salon owners as you digest the news of the salons now being allowed to reopen here in Iowa on Friday?
Charlie Bonanno, XO Studio in West Des Moines: It's a little bit of an emotional roller coaster. The not knowing when we can open and then all of a sudden, boom, we can open. It's great, but also we are as a team, looking at this with common sense.
We saw the numbers and how they increase. So collectively, today as a team, we decided that we're not going to open our doors until June 1. And hopefully we can see some of these numbers go.
Local 5: That is a big decision to make in light of being, you know, legally be able to be open and say no to that business for two more weeks.
What are the driving factors now? Is it that the fact that your employees still have a lot of concerns about it? You still have a lot of concerns about it?
Bonanno: Well, we all do.
I, as an owner, don't try to force my opinion on my team. We all make decisions together. And the first question I asked them was 'How do you feel about this? Do you feel comfortable about it? Do you feel safe about it?' And they all chimed up and said, 'You know what, I really don't feel comfortable right now at this time.' Especially with the information that came out yesterday.
In fact here in Chicago, I just read that in the past 24 hours, 192 deaths just happened.
So you know, we have to look at the statistics before we can just say 'Hey, come on in.'
We'd love to work, we would love to make the income. But not at the sacrifice of our health, our family's health, our clients' health. It's common sense. You just gotta do the right thing.
Local 5: We were talking for a minute before we started to record .. you have four locations, one in Des Moines ... three in Chicago. You had to close one down for financial reasons. This has been a devastating time for so many businesses and it does have to be a difficult decision for you to make in light of looking at your financial books.
Bonanno: It is, it really is. And I saw it coming after the first month of being closed.
I paid attention to my finances, but when you're hit hard like this and you have absolutely no income coming in for that amount of time, you start realizing it's either going to be sink or swim here. And I had to look at it as a professional and analyze it and make the best decision. And still keep my people employed, you know?
So luckily, I can bring those stylists over to my first location where we're going to be working at 50% capacity. So it's going to be scheduling that we have to get in. But, you know, it's either cut off one finger or cut off the whole arm, right? I made that decision. It was sad. It's sad. It's a lot of work I put into that. A lot of money, and I have to walk away from all right.
WATCH: Complete coronavirus coverage from Local 5 on YouTube