GREAT FALLS — Studio Montage Salon & Spa in downtown Great Falls closed for two weeks last month after two employees tested positive for COVID-19, but business is now running as usual - with a few changes to prevent another case from breaking out in the workplace.
The business closed July 8th and reopened on July 22nd, during which time they increased their sanitation efforts.
Management added more sanitation stations, implemented a more thorough sanitation process for shampoo stations, and created a check-in station where guests complete a temperature check and safety questionnaire. The salon also requested that clients not bring guests to limit the number of people in the building.
Team members must practice the following measures as well:
- stay more distanced during work
- take their temperature before their shift
- keep masks on indoors
- take lunch break outside if they’ve been anywhere out of town where they could have contracted the virus.
Studio Montage owner DeeAnna Corn said customer response has remained constant since returning to the salon and implementing these changes: “I think we’ve been very steady and consistently busy. I don’t think we have been any slower."
Furthermore, her clients have expressed gratitude for her decision to communicate openly about the outbreak. “When I’m in the salon I have several people stop me every day thanking us for being so transparent and for shutting down and putting the safety of the community first. So it’s just been very encouraging,” Corn said.
Of the two employees who tested positive for COVID-19, both were retested and one came back positive a second time. She was then required to stay home from work for three weeks.
“The girls that were sick had additional testing just to ensure that they were safe to come back to work. But we didn’t have anybody else on the team test just because everybody came back negative and there hasn’t been any symptoms,” Corn said.
As of August 10, all team members have tested negative and are back working in the salon.
Corn said she and her team members are pleased to be back in business: “We’re absolutely happy to be back and happy to have that situation behind us and hoping that we can prevent any more from happening by just being a little bit more mindful of what we choose to do - if anybody has any symptoms at all: making sure they get tested right away.”
