DANIELSON – Main Street: It’s one of the most common street designations in the country with a name designed to evoke a sense of activity, but the past year has changed the traditional thinking.
In Danielson, Main Street starts in the south near the U.S. Post Office building and winds its way through the borough, past a business strip on its way to Dayville. It’s a meandering drive past restaurants, small businesses, local places of worship and residential neighborhoods.
A half-mile drive – or quick walk - along the downtown portion of the street takes you past a popular breakfast joint, a middle school, town hall and a congregation that traces its origins back more than three centuries – all locations whose tenants have been affected in different ways by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Holly Brown, stylist owner of Waves Hair and Tanning Salon in Plainfield, has owned her business for 30 years. However, this year has been unlike the prior 29.
“I thought I had seen everything, with 30 years in business, but this year threw a whole new wrench in the beauty industry,” Brown said.
By any metric, 2020 has been both an unusual and testing year. Between the immediate impact of the COVID-19 virus, and the residual impact on the economy, local businesses owners have learned from this year, and look forward to next.
For Brown, the learning process was a matter being reacquainted with common sanitation practices from beauty school. This includes having her stylists trained in how to use Barbicide for disinfecting equipment.