A barber shop in Cadillac reopened Tuesday, despite the Governor Whitmer’s order to remain closed until May 28th.
Abbie’s First Cut Barber Shop just closed up shop for the day.
Owner of Abbie’s First Cut Barber Shop Christina Godfrey posted a video on Facebook Tuesday announcing her reopening.
“Right away as soon as I closed down, I went and got a job at Meijer grocery store and it helped get me through, it helped pay my bills that were coming out automatically, but that was even a two week wait,” says Godfrey.
Even with the extra job at Meijer, unemployment and stimulus checks, Godfrey says it wasn’t enough:
“If I were to stay at home and just work at Meijer I would take the chance of losing everything that I’ve ever worked for.”
Customer John Vanderlip says he’s willing to take the risk in order to support his local barber shop:
“It’s been two and a half months since I’ve had a haircut and I desperately needed one.” “Everybody has bills to pay and it’s really hard to pay your bills if you’re not open.”
Wexford County Prosecutor Jason Elmore says the issue is complex:
“There’s potential criminal responsibility, civil infractions, impacts on licenses such as hair salons as well as liquor licenses. There’s also potential civil liability such as a business opens up and a person gets sick.”
Elmore says Wexford County hasn’t charged any business, employers or employees for opening up under the executive order.
“At the same time, we can’t tell people that it’s alright to violate the orders.”
For now, Godfrey plans to stay behind the chair.
“I work with a lot less people at my chair than I do at Meijer,” says Godfrey. “Taking care of the people that love me and care about me and my community.”
Elmore says he’s waiting for a ruling on the lawsuit claiming the governor did not have the power to issue some of the most recent executive orders before acting.
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