In Ohio and Minnesota, the mandate came down on Wednesday, March 18: Nail salons and other businesses that offer “non-essential personal services” were ordered to temporarily close up shop to slow the transmission of COVID-19. The order followed on the heels of California's Bay Area, which had already begun practicing shelter in place. By Friday, March 20, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Colorado, Alaska, and Los Angeles County (the last of which accounts for five percent of the country's nail salons) had all required spas and salons to close. Saturday, Michigan followed suit.
As quickly as the coronavirus spreads in the U.S., so will the closures of the country’s some 24, 000 nail salons, bringing an entire industry to its knees. It’s something that’s caught the estimated 126, 300 to 212, 519 certified nail salon workers in the U.S. (which 2018 California and New York state board data suggests only reflects 30-47% of the workforce) completely off guard.For an industry that is almost fully comprised of women (81%) and immigrant workers (79%), one third of which are heads of households and self-employed, the sudden loss of work is devastating. But behind the scenes, the effects of the pandemic began to show a month earlier.
“We first felt the impact of the virus through our supply chain, ” says Kristin Gyimah, a nail tech and owner of Dime Nails LA. “Our large Chinese and Korean-owned suppliers were not getting shipments of their supplies from China and supplies were running low. Everyone was scrambling to get their barbicide, gloves, masks, nail files — everything they could.” Just a few days later, Gyimah saw a drastic drop in business. “As a result, we started telling the nail artists that this is going to hit
Nail Salons, Lifeline For Immigrants, Have Lost Half Their Business
And by March 3, we started seeing the books drop off. Phones were completely quiet and we were just kind of left hoping and waiting to see what would happen.”
Meanwhile, in another mom-and-pop salon in Queens, New York, 53 year-old manicurist Morshada Begam began to see a significant slump in business as well. “Three weeks ago, it started to get really slow, ” she told on Friday. “We were just sitting with no customers. People were scared to come in.” Begam, who immigrated to New York City from Bangladesh in 1998, decided then to give up her part-time night shifts — not because she was losing the $75 or so in daily wages and tips, but because she was concerned about the safety of her family.“I have my mom home, who is 83 years old, and I take care of her. I take the subway and the bus to go to work. She’s had diabetes and asthma and I didn't want to make her sick, " she says.
Giving up her shifts at the salon wasn’t easy — in order to keep her family afloat, Begam now relies solely on the monthly stipend she earns as a primary caregiver for her mother. Because she’s technically paid for her day job, she is ineligible for unemployment benefits and has been forced to use credit to get by. “I'm worried, ” Begam says. “The work I do with my mom is not enough [to support us]. I'm not so young, so it’s not easy for me to find a job. I’m worried about how I'm going to meet expenses. I have to use my credit card now and it's going to be very hard for me to pay for everything back. I’m worried, but I have no choice. My mom is my first priority.”
Nail Salons Near Me That Are Open Late And Open On Sunday
By March 8, as the virus’s epicenter had moved from China to Iran and Italy (where 60 million residents were placed on lockdown), bigger players in the nail industry started weighing the costs and benefits of providing such an intimate service. MiniLuxe, which operates salons in four states, has built its reputation as
Place to get an ultra-sanitary mani/pedi — thanks to a heightened hygiene protocol enhanced by in-house sterilization rooms. If you could get a worry-free manicure anywhere, it would be at one of its 24 locations.
But as the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic on March 11, and as a few of MiniLuxe’s employees and customers began to voice discomfort about coming into the studios, the company’s top brass met to put its own plan into place. “We put plans A, B, and C together, with the worst case scenario being if someone came into our studios after having come into contact with coronavirus, then we would shut it down and get it cleaned, ” says Donna Charloff, services director for the brand. “There was no plan to close — that was never on our radar.”
Find The Nail Salon Near Me
But just a few days later, the writing was on the wall: MiniLuxe announced on Monday, March 16, that it would temporarily shut all of its doors the following morning — ahead of state-issued mandates. By the end of the week, some 550 nail designers and editors were furloughed. “It was just an agonizing decision, honestly. Our founder and team were trying to figure out anything to do other than close and we knew it had to happen, ” Charloff says. “As safe as we are, as hygienic as we are, our employees and clients may still have been at risk, which is why we closed. It was the right thing to do. There's just no way to do it safely given the guidelines that everyone's been given.”
At Dime Nails LA, Gyiman was grappling with the same impossible decision: As the virus spread, she became more and more concerned about the safety of her clients and employees, as well as the nail techs' livelihoods should she choose to shutter. (As a group, they had selected to work on a commission basis in January, when California’s controversial AB5, a bill intended to reclassify gig workers as employees, was enacted.) By the second week of March, her business was serving about half of the clients it might otherwise. New customers were scarce. Still, regular clients continued to come in. “I was able to keep all the girls on staff and I know that hasn’t been the situation for a lot of independent, suite-run technicians, or hourly technicians. My staff was still able to pull in a decent wage, ” Gyiman says.
In fact, as leaked federal documents suggested the pandemic could last 18 months or longer, Gyiman saw a boom in business as other salons began to close their doors. “People weren’t trying to get unicorn chrome nails, ” she says. "It was more a matter of people worried about in-growns they would get after a month of no pedicures, or needing to get acrylics, extensions, or gels removed.”
Nail Salon Basingstoke
At first, Gyiman limited the number of people in the salon to 10 at a time, but it was beginning to become clear that it wouldn't be enough to protect her employees and customers. “There’s no social distancing with nails, ” she says.
When opening her shop on Monday and Tuesday of last week, she noticed people on the street giving her the side eye. “It was starting to get weird with clients, " she says. "People were scared. Everyone was wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves.” Followers on Instagram also urged her to close. “I was torn. I know a lot of my techs depend solely on this income to feed their families. A lot of them are single mothers who have kids or have grandparents or parents that they take care of and it was hard because our books were full and we could easily have stayed open Thursday so they could make a little more cash, ” she says. Finally, despite the surge in business, Gyiman decided to close the shop just ahead of L.A.’s mandate. The following day, 23 calls for appointments went to voicemail.
Gyiman cut her employees checks on Thursday, just as they were furloughed. Miniluxe, which provides its nail designers and editors with paid time off, also immediately issued checks (including PTO balances) as well as information on how to apply for unemployment benefits.
Nail Salon Etiquette — The Glam House Brand
As rapidly as the infrastructure of nail salons collapsed, so did the business of styling nails for advertising campaigns, editorial shoots, and red carpet events. Mazz Hanna, CEO of Nailing Hollywood, a boutique agency that solely represents nail stylists, started to see a sharp decline in business after March 9. “Shoot after shoot was getting deleted off of our calendar. It was crazy. By March 13, we literally had no jobs on the calendar at all. Not now and not for the future. Nothing.” Even more distressing, the cancellations came during the agency's busiest time of the year “March through May is when companies are starting to get their fall fashion content together, " Hanna says. "Last year at the end of March, we had shoots nearly every single day.”
Queenie Nguyen is one Nailing Hollywood artist who works with stars like Halsey and Saoirse Ronan. The evaporation of her on-set and red carpet work dovetailed with a
But just a few days later, the writing was on the wall: MiniLuxe announced on Monday, March 16, that it would temporarily shut all of its doors the following morning — ahead of state-issued mandates. By the end of the week, some 550 nail designers and editors were furloughed. “It was just an agonizing decision, honestly. Our founder and team were trying to figure out anything to do other than close and we knew it had to happen, ” Charloff says. “As safe as we are, as hygienic as we are, our employees and clients may still have been at risk, which is why we closed. It was the right thing to do. There's just no way to do it safely given the guidelines that everyone's been given.”
At Dime Nails LA, Gyiman was grappling with the same impossible decision: As the virus spread, she became more and more concerned about the safety of her clients and employees, as well as the nail techs' livelihoods should she choose to shutter. (As a group, they had selected to work on a commission basis in January, when California’s controversial AB5, a bill intended to reclassify gig workers as employees, was enacted.) By the second week of March, her business was serving about half of the clients it might otherwise. New customers were scarce. Still, regular clients continued to come in. “I was able to keep all the girls on staff and I know that hasn’t been the situation for a lot of independent, suite-run technicians, or hourly technicians. My staff was still able to pull in a decent wage, ” Gyiman says.
In fact, as leaked federal documents suggested the pandemic could last 18 months or longer, Gyiman saw a boom in business as other salons began to close their doors. “People weren’t trying to get unicorn chrome nails, ” she says. "It was more a matter of people worried about in-growns they would get after a month of no pedicures, or needing to get acrylics, extensions, or gels removed.”
Nail Salon Basingstoke
At first, Gyiman limited the number of people in the salon to 10 at a time, but it was beginning to become clear that it wouldn't be enough to protect her employees and customers. “There’s no social distancing with nails, ” she says.
When opening her shop on Monday and Tuesday of last week, she noticed people on the street giving her the side eye. “It was starting to get weird with clients, " she says. "People were scared. Everyone was wearing masks and gloves to protect themselves.” Followers on Instagram also urged her to close. “I was torn. I know a lot of my techs depend solely on this income to feed their families. A lot of them are single mothers who have kids or have grandparents or parents that they take care of and it was hard because our books were full and we could easily have stayed open Thursday so they could make a little more cash, ” she says. Finally, despite the surge in business, Gyiman decided to close the shop just ahead of L.A.’s mandate. The following day, 23 calls for appointments went to voicemail.
Gyiman cut her employees checks on Thursday, just as they were furloughed. Miniluxe, which provides its nail designers and editors with paid time off, also immediately issued checks (including PTO balances) as well as information on how to apply for unemployment benefits.
Nail Salon Etiquette — The Glam House Brand
As rapidly as the infrastructure of nail salons collapsed, so did the business of styling nails for advertising campaigns, editorial shoots, and red carpet events. Mazz Hanna, CEO of Nailing Hollywood, a boutique agency that solely represents nail stylists, started to see a sharp decline in business after March 9. “Shoot after shoot was getting deleted off of our calendar. It was crazy. By March 13, we literally had no jobs on the calendar at all. Not now and not for the future. Nothing.” Even more distressing, the cancellations came during the agency's busiest time of the year “March through May is when companies are starting to get their fall fashion content together, " Hanna says. "Last year at the end of March, we had shoots nearly every single day.”
Queenie Nguyen is one Nailing Hollywood artist who works with stars like Halsey and Saoirse Ronan. The evaporation of her on-set and red carpet work dovetailed with a
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