WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — At Mello Barbershop in Winston-Salem, the word "mellow" is the key.

“They always said I was mellow,” Owner Melvin Coward said. “So I just kind of ran with it.”

What You Need To Know

  • COVID-19 cases are up in North Carolina — the state went from about 3,000 weekly positive cases to over 25,000 per week in the last two months

  • Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines issued a press release urging people to wear masks indoors

  • Many businesses say they will not enforce indoor masking

Coward runs the place, but most people know him by his nickname, "Mello."

His demeanor is about as cool as it gets. His style, on the other hand, speaks volumes. You can’t miss Mello with the jewelry he rocks.

“It’s just my brand, that’s all,” he said. “Take care of my brand, everything I do is mellow, ‘king mellow.’”

But that smooth personality got shaken up a bit when COVID-19 gripped the world in 2020.

“I guess it was something we had to adapt to. At first, it was ugly, everybody running around crying that they didn’t know what they were going to do and whatnot,” he said. “But just one of them things you just had to get used to.”

He resorted to what he now calls a "drive-by appointment."

“Pulled up on the side of him and pretty much did a drive-by haircut, right there on the spot. I had the dude turn around and spin, do a little spin move while I was cutting him,” he said with a laugh. “I just did my thing, put that mellow on.”

But now, COVID-19 numbers are back on the rise here in North Carolina. In Forsyth County, positive cases went from under 200 per week to more than 1,000 per week in the last two months.

It prompted Winston-Salem Mayor Allen Joines to issue a press release urging residents to "protect themselves and others by wearing a mask indoors."

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Not everyone plans on following that advice.

“I kind of think we figured it out,” Coward said. “It is what it is, we’ve been in it two years already.”

He isn’t alone. More than 20 businesses in the area say they do not plan on enforcing masks indoors.

They’ll leave it up to each person.

“It’s just a matter of time before (the mayor) enforces it,” Coward said. “I’m going to play my cards — he tells me to do it, I’ll do it. I’ll play with the rules. They tell me to put a mask on, I’ll put a mask on.”

For now, he and many others will keep them off. Mello said sometimes, it’s just nice to see a smile.

“I like talking to the people, connecting with the people, different personalities, like the network,” he said. “I like that someone can rely on me, and I’m there for them.”