SUDBURY -- The province took another step toward normality Friday as it entered the second stage of its plan to reopen the economy.

Across the northeast, hair salons, tattoo parlours and restaurant patios were among businesses given the green light by the provincial government to resume operations.

"We're feeling super excited," said Dawn Zyma, the spa manager at Sudbury's Talk of the Town. "We've been planning to reopen for a long time now so we've been ready to go for at least a couple of weeks."

There definitely was no shortage of interest amongst the businesses cliental, with seats starting to be filled shortly after opening Friday morning.

Natalie Guenette-Levesque, who works in retail herself, said she wasn't nervous about her appointment Friday morning for one simple reason.

"Desperation!" Guenette-Levesque said. "My hair has never been this long before or this grey."

While it's back to business, it's far from business as usual. A sign reminding all clients to wear a mask greets them as they enter the building. It's just one of many new protocols put in place as staff adjust to the new normal.

"We have our mask, we have our acrylic barriers that we put up," said Zyma. "We also require the client to wear the mask throughout the entire appointment. If they don't have one, we also provide them. We have our cleaning stations for when you arrive and when you leave."

The business, which tried its best to continue to offer support to its clients with personalized hair kits while closed, has seen high demand since reopening.

"It would depend on the service they are looking for," said Zyma. "Obviously, over the next month we are going to be a little bit booked so it might take a couple of weeks to get in. Just give us a call, message us on Facebook, message us on our e-mail, we'll get back to you.

"Like I said, we're just trying to accommodate as best as we can, as fast as we can."

As part of new safety measures, only four appointments will be allowed at the same time, in order to allow space between the stations while their spa services will be booking two clients at a time.

After months of being out of work, Zyma said she couldn't be happier to be back.

"I'm just excited to be back," she said. "I love people, I've missed talking to everybody, seeing everybody's faces so I'm super excited."