Alert level 2: Retail, malls, cafes, restaurants, cinema and other public spaces can reopen this Thursday. Schools will reopen on May 18 and bars on May 21.
How badly do Kiwis want a haircut after six weeks of lockdown?
Timely, which makes a cloud-based appointment app used by hair and beauty salons, saw its clients book 800 appointments within minutes of the Prime Minister confirming you could get a haircut under level 2.
And in the hours that followed, more than 60,000 appointments were booked for the first week of re-opening.
"And that number is rising fast," said Timely CEO Ryan Baker - whose company received $458,000 in wage-subsidy payments as the hair and beauty business dried up during levels 3 and 4.
There was no immediate word whether ACT leader David Seymour - re-named "Disco Dave" by Sideswipe after The Simpson's Disco Stu - would be among them.
Hair salons will be open from Thursday, with hairdressers getting special dispensation from social distancing rules - as long as they wear personal protective equipment, even if many are still confused over the exact PPE requirements.
"We've seen thousands of health and beauty businesses getting ready for this day. It's going to be a tsunami of demand as clients seek style and health after six weeks in their bubbles," Baker said.
"Hairdressers, barbers and other beauty and health professionals have been flat out over recent weeks looking after their clients in lockdown. This has involved doing online consultations, online education, social media and pre-booking appointments. Now that tsunami is about to hit."
Barbers up and down the country are bracing to take more appointments than ever with social distancing needed for both staff and clients.
"It's been incredible to see the instant response from our customers when the Level 2 restrictions were announced. Online bookings have been a saviour - we already have over 500 online bookings and counting. Walk-in appointments are a thing of the past for barbers for a while at least," said Ben Scott of Benny's Barbershop in Christchurch.
Timely's health and beauty platform is used by over 40,000 beauty professionals across New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom. Baker said his customers know what they're doing when it comes to safety.
"Thanks to the PM clearly flagging the needs around safety and personal protective equipment, we're also seeing beauty professionals being well prepared around a safety-first approach to delivering their services," the Timely founder said.
"Our industry's professionalism has really been evident. These folks already take hygiene and safety seriously and it'll be no different with the asks of them for level 2.
"We've all had a bit of a laugh at the lockdown haircut photos being shared around. But the truth is that hairdressers, barbers and other beauty professionals provide an immeasurable service for the wellbeing of our communities. And they don't get nearly enough credit for it."
