Brooklyn hair salon facing labor, supply chain issues amid Omicron wave

The season of shortages is still ongoing as the supply chain crisis is impacting a local hair salon with issues from delays, inflation and labor shortages.

News 12 Staff

Jan 14, 2022, 3:34 AM

Updated 997 days ago

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The season of shortages is still ongoing as the supply chain crisis is impacting a local hair salon with issues from delays, inflation and labor shortages. 
Michaella Blissett Williams has been in the beauty industry for 30 years, growing her empire and opening Salon 718 location across Brooklyn.
The salons have already faced pandemic-related challenges but are now facing yet another setback because of the supply chain crisis. 
Williams says the price of her professional hair dyes have spiked more than 15% and her products are taking more than a week to arrive.
"Our turnaround time definitely has been extended, you can't promise certain services the same day, just because we're not sure if we're going to get the products in on time,” said Williams. 
The owner says to work around the problems, she has been buying products in bulk and trying to find the items at local hair stores.
Amid the supply chain issues, she says the recent spike in Omicron cases is causing a labor shortage. 
"There was a point where I was getting two or three phone calls a day even if they weren't testing positive, but they were exposed,” said Williams.
She’s now giving her staff Monday’s off to get tested and boosted so she can make necessary schedule changes for any positive COVID-19 cases.
As she continues to navigate the hurdles caused by the pandemic, she says she is hopeful that things will get better.