Astoria barbershop owners adapt to serve
community during COVID-19 pandemic
3
QUEENS WEEKLY, AUGUST 16, 2020
BY ANGÉLICA ACEVEDO
Well Kept Barbershop’s
co-owners Luis Concha and
Ruben Molina breathed
a sigh of relief when they
found out they could reopen
their Astoria shop, almost
three months after COVID-
19 hit the city.
The two Queens natives
decided to close up their
sleek shop, located at 30-11
32nd St., as soon as Mayor
Bill de Blasio announced
schools would close, indefinitely,
starting March 16.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo
didn’t mandate barbershops
and other businesses to close
until March 22 as part of the
New York PAUSE program
— but Concha, 29, and Molina,
33, are both fathers and
husbands.
“I remember telling
my guys, ‘If they close the
schools, we’re going to close
the shop,’ because most of us
here are fathers,” Concha
recalled. “Obviously coming
to work was going to be
tough when kids are home
from school. And if they
close the schools it means
it’s gotten out of hand or
there’s something to worry
about.”
Concha, who is of Colombian
descent, born and
raised in Jackson Heights,
said they thought the lockdown
would only last two
weeks anyway.
But as two weeks became
months of staying home, doing
their part to slow the
spread of the virus by keeping
the shop closed and taking
care of their families,
bills began to pile up.
“I was scared,” Concha
said, adding that in March
they began to apply for several
federal, state and city
programs to aid small businesses.
They didn’t qualify for
the Paycheck Protection
Program, and didn’t hear
back from most of their applications,
but they were able
to secure a small grant from
the Small Business Administration
(SBA). That grant
covered their bills through
April and May.
Then came June, and
they were back to square
one, with no funds to pay that
month’s bill as the state remained
on lockdown. Luckily,
they received another
SBA loan in mid-June that
allowed them to pay some of
those bills, while negotiating
with their landlord.
“That loan saved the
shop,” Molina said.
Well Kept Barbershop
first opened up in 2018, and
have since gained a sustainable
following thanks to
their combination of skilled
barbers and top-notch customer
service.
On both their Google
and GenBook pages, they’ve
maintained a five-star rating
. Concha and Molina became
partners after years of
following each other’s work
on social media and developing
a real life friendship.
While they both take clients,
Concha takes care of
the administrative aspect
of the business and Molina,
who is also of Colombian
descent and grew up in Jackson
Heights, takes care of
the shop’s look.
Both are award-winning
barbers with substantial followers
on Instagram.
“The community has really
embraced us,” Concha
said, speaking of their clientele
and fellow business
owners.
Even before they were
given the OK from the state
to reopen at the end of June,
Molina began re-designing
their space to comply with
social distancing guidelines
and procuring personal protective
equipment.
When you enter the shop
while wearing your mask,
Jennifer Gualotuna, Molina’s
wife, greets you and
asks to take your temperature
with a no-contact thermometer.
Gualotuna sits at
a front desk, which wasn’t
there before COVID-19, with
hand sanitizer (that smells
uncommonly great) and extra
masks.
Gualotuna explained
that she decided to help out
at the shop once they reopened,
given that her own
family business has been out
of work since March.
“I’m here to support
them,” she said. “Right now,
nobody has enough, we’re all
trying to pay debts and we
understand it’s a huge toll.”
On the shop’s second
level, plexiglass sheets, with
their bow-tie logo on each
sheet, separates the barbers’
chairs and stations while
they wear their masks and
face shields — although Concha
admitted the face shield
isn’t all that comfortable and
has a bit of a glare.
They ensure the barber
chair, clippers and other
tools are sanitized between
each client. They also installed
two air purifiers to
filter the air all day.
The state guidelines require
shops to maintain
50 percent capacity, which
means instead of having
eight barbers like they used
to, Well Kept has four barbers
a day.
They can’t offer beard
grooming or anything related
to people’s faces, which
means their earning potential
per customer is cut down
by $15 to $20.
Regardless, they said the
first few weeks were the busiest
they’ve ever been, and
have kept busy since.
There have been some
clients who don’t want to
wear masks, but they comply
when the barbers explain
they don’t want to get fined.
The state can fine and
even shut them down if they
don’t comply with COVID-19
guidelines. They’re also all
mandated to take COVID
tests every two weeks.
But the fear of having
to close again if COVID-19
flares up remains.
Concha, who has two
kids, recalled having to
apply for unemployment,
which he received almost
seven weeks after he applied
in April. Being that they’re
self-employed, he received
the minimum payment. In
addition to that, his wife
lost her job after being furloughed.
“I started to tap into my
savings,” he said. “And when
that stimulus check came in
April, it was gone as soon as
it did. It wasn’t enough.”
Molina was able to take
some house calls by setting
up a makeshift station in
his backyard in Jackson
Heights. Although it was
tough, Molina chose to look
at the bright side.
“The silver lining was
spending time with my son
and my family,” Molina
said. Keeping their business
alive is their top priority,
though, so they’re meticulously
following COVID
guidelines.
“For us, this isn’t a job.
This is what we do. This
is our lives,” Concha said.
“When you come here, you
ground yourself in that station
for 10 hours a day, and
you know you’re going to see
10 different clients and be in
contact with lots of people,
but these are the people who
make your life go by. People
come see you to look good, to
feel good.”
Before the pandemic hit,
Concha and Molina always
looked for ways to give back
to the community. In the
past two years, they’ve hosted
Christmas toy drives to
take to the Variety Boys and
Girls Club.
When they first opened,
they had a back-to-school
special offering kids a free
haircut. On their one-year
anniversary of opening, they
had a celebration with a DJ,
food and purchased 50 bookbags
with school supplies to
give to the kids walking by
the shop.
“It was a big event. We
had about 10 bags left over
and were hoping to do it
again this year,” Concha
said. “The only thing I’m
worried about now is if we
can actually do it.”
The business owners are
hoping for the best and paying
attention to the news
every day. In the meantime,
loyal clients keep coming
back.
Fernando Colato, 22, has
been getting his hair cut
from Molina since he was
16 years old. He drove all
the way from Long Island to
get his first hair cut in three
months a few weeks after
they reopened.
Colato, an essential worker
who commutes to Manhattan,
recalled a bad hair cut
experience in which a barber
cut his hair line too far
back. He said he left the shop
in the middle of the cut and
was waking home, trying to
fight back tears. But on the
way he ran into Molina, who
offered to fix him up.
“I look up to him as a man
and as a person,” Colato said.
“I’m excited to be back. This
is like my second home.”
Luis Concha, co-owner of Well Kept Barbershop in Astoria. Photo by Angélica Acevedo