ST. MARYS, Ga. — Saturday was Adam Herrera's second full day of work in a month. His tattoo parlor, Empire Tattoo in St. Mary's Georgia, is a non-essential business given the OK to reopen Friday in the state by Governor Brian Kemp.
Some of those businesses include hair salons, massage and tattoo parlors. Kemp put out guidelines for the businesses reopening -- like to social distance, something not always easy to do in a tattoo parlor.
"It is close contact, but we practiced safety measures way before all this happened," Herrera said.
Herrera said he's confident in reopening because of those past safety measures his business had in place. Now, everyone, including customers, wear masks. They also screen customers before scheduling their tattoos. The screening involves a questionnaire that asks, among other things, if they've traveled recently, or if they have underlying health conditions.
If the customer answers yes to either of those questions, Herrera asks if they can push back their appointment.
"Not so much turn them down, but ask them if we can delay their appointment at least until things get better and we’re OK by the CDC to move a little bit forward," he said.
Once the appointment is scheduled, they have a consultation with the customer. During the consultation, the customer's temperature is taken. They also only allow one customer in the lobby at a time.
Herrera said he's happy with Kemp's decision because he believes if he wasn't able to open his doors now, they may stay permanently closed.
"We'd eventually shut down," he said. "There's no way we could survive this forever."
He said he trusts those who helped make the decision to reopen businesses.
"I have faith in the people who told us to close just as much as they’re telling us to open," Herrera said. "If I wouldn’t have closed at the time, I wouldn’t have been listening to them. If I wouldn’t have reopened, then I wouldn’t have been listening to them and I’m not an expert in it this."
Herrera said business is doing well, and they've seen the normal amount of customers, if not more, for this time of year. He said he isn't sure what the future holds for his business or his state.
"I guess we'll wait and see. They keep calling us the test state," he said.
Movie theaters and dine-in restaurants reopen Monday in Georgia.