NICHOLASVILLE, Ky. (LEX 18) — Gov. Beshear made the announcement at Tuesday's press conference that all "non-essential businesses" would be forced to close by the end of the day on Wednesday due to the coronavirus. This included nail and hair salons.
Kim Huynh, the owner of the Nail Shop in Nicholasville, made the decision to close her business on Sunday, two days before the mandated closure.
"It was either do it now, and I knew we would be forced to do it eventually, so do it now on our own accord or be forced to do it eventually," Huynh said of closing her business.
Huynh felt awful for her employees, many of which will not be able to receive unemployment because they are considered contracted employees. To make matters worse, many of those employees are immigrants that are also supporting their relatives overseas.
"I just don't think people realize the severity of the situation as a whole," Huynh explained. "It's just this domino effect. If you take income away from one person, it affects another person, and another person and another person."
Huynh and her business aren't alone. The Blo Hair Salon in the Summit is also forced to temporarily close. The owner, Michelle Krenz, said her employees will be able to receive unemployment.
"It is such a scary time and this is such a terrifying virus," Krenz said. "I just really think it was the best interest of the people of the commonwealth to close these front-facing businesses to try to slow the spread of the virus and flatten the curve."
Both businesses hope to be back in business soon, but there is plenty of uncertainty of how soon it will be before they will be allowed to re-open.
