BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — While the state of California is allowing some salons to resume service indoors, Los Angeles County is not quite ready to give the green light. 

“Our Board will be discussing with Dr. Ferrer tomorrow [Tuesday] the protocol moving forward. We recognize the state has allowed us to open and we want to do it in a very thoughtful process so tomorrow we will be discussing it and make announcements, hopefully by early afternoon,” said L.A. County supervisor Kathryn Barger on Monday.

Rodante Smith owns Rodante on Rodeo in Beverly Hills. He worked for years as a stylist before opening the business in March 2020. He was looking forward to cutting hair again.

“COVID-19 really hit me hard, and I just, seriously, I just don’t know what to do,” said Smith.

Since starting out on his own Smith has been closed three times, twice because of the pandemic and once because of protests. The space he rents is small, expensive, and doesn’t have any room outside to cut hair.

“I feel horrible of course. It’s hurting me a lot,” said Smith. 

Stylist and barber Brian Jones began at Rodante on Rodeo soon after it opened.

“I live in Orange County and in that area I’ve been seeing tons of barber shops and hair salons opening like almost as if nothing happened. For there to be all these different conversations of ‘oh we’re going to open,’ ‘we’re going to not open,’ ‘there’s certain new rules,’ it’s kind of confusing, but it also gets your hopes up,” said Jones.

How long Smith can keep his business alive is uncertain and somewhat out of his hands.