They are everywhere here in Dallas, quality is inconsistent though.
I'm still looking for a salon I'll be really happy with,
such as I have in Montreal. I still get my pedis and manis regularly when I'm here, I'm addicted.

That's interesting. I have recently noticed and wondered about seeing an unusual number of nail salons around here. Can't say as I ever noticed them before.

I hadn't thought till I read this, but I will say that I think we have actually lost a few of our nail salons. Oh there are still many in the big city near me, but I don't think I'm seeing as many. I, myself, got a bit bored with it I guess and only go for pedis every-so-often. My toes area always done, but sometimes it's just quicker to do it myself. LOL I'm wondering with the economy the way it is if some people are giving up this little luxury?

I have been happy with a nail person in beauty salon. The gal that cuts my hair has recently moved to a new salon, and there is a very good nail person there. To me it's a bit more relaxed than the nail salons (which seem to be a bit more fast paced). With the oriental salons, be careful in making sure your person is licensed. I have only been to one of those once and did not feel comfortable as I could not understand much of what was being said LOL.

tina

With the oriental salons, be careful in making sure your person is licensed.

The licensing board in my state is very strong and licenses are required to be displayed.
Just because someone's first language isn't English is not a reason for me to question their legitimacy at their job.

I get that sense too - nail salons springing up everywhere. And banks, but that's another topic.

Reading about how recent immigrants are exploited by people of the same ethnicity, compounded by the traditional male dominance in most countries, I too worry about what goes on in these places. To my American eyes, many Asian women have similar skin and hair color and facial features, and I would not necessarily be able to tell whether the woman sitting in front of me in a nail salon matched the postage stamp sized photo on her license.

That's right, mitch! They are very inconsistent in quality.

tina, I haven't noticed any closing around here, though. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seems people aren't going to give up that one luxury-they are already addicted-LOL!

I just want to know how much they are getting paid, because if it is below minimum wage, I don't want to contribute.

"I just want to know how much they are getting paid, because if it is below minimum wage, I don't want to contribute. "
Huh?

I'm a licensed nail tech as well as hair stylist. I got an hourly rate and commission at the salon I worked in. I have no idea what the people in the nail salons are making. I'm trying to figure out why you want to know what they're getting paid? Thinking of getting your license?

Around here I haven't seen any recent salon openings. I have seen a bunch of banks.

touche'terriks - although that isn't how I meant it at all. I know that some of the asian shops here are somewhat crowded in that many techs work in one shop. Crowded stations and I'm not sure license are displayed, even if they are supposed to be. I get the idea that some of these women are being taken advantage of. There is a language barrier and it is hard to ask a question.

I guess what I SHOULD have said is to be careful in ANY nail salon, although it is much easier in one where you are understood and you can understand the personnel. One should be careful in any salon of the licensing and sanitary measures. You can get some nasty infections from improperly done manicures/pedicures. A local news station did a special on this a couple of years ago and it was downright scary.

I ditto Graywings concerns about the shops that have the immigrant workers. I am not questioning someone's legitimacy at their job due to their race or language. I am just saying that it may be harder to obtain necessary information.

tina

Okay--I'll put couple cents in here since I have a lot of extended family in the business.

Most of the nail salons are owned by Vietnamese. It seems they monopolize the market. The ones who work in the nail salon split 60/40 with the salon owners (that's why the owner always want to have more workers who works the fastest because it increase his profit margin). Not all nail salons are created equal. My cousin owned a very exclusive nail salon in a very expensive part of town. Because of the clientele there, it's decorated more like a spa, there are fresh flowers on the sign-in counter, and the customer will be served champagne (or coffee/tea) if she so wished. They also offered facial, massage, and even permanent make-up there. It cost more too.

On the other hand, my niece frequent this salon where it's a lot cheaper. When she brings my DD (5yo) along, they only charge 2$ for kids' nails (toes & fingers w/ cute litle drawings of flowers, hearts). Because it's so cheap, a lot of my friend likes to bring their DDs along for a mom/dd date.

My SIL who works for the nail salon pay "rent" for the chair and have a split profit system with the owner. Some other place charge rent but does not share profit. Each arrangement depends on the hair salon owner. It's nice to have a nail service in the hair salon because you can have your toes done while waiting for your hair color to set, sometimes I would bring my DD and let her have her nails painted while I get my hair cut. She loves it. I can do it for her but she just love the salon experience. LOL :-D

The new thing I found here is the cheap massage parlor. For 15$ or so, you can get a total body massage. The workers are often Chinese (mostly males). My cousins went and they love it. I haven't tried it yet but 15$ is really cheap for a full head to toe body massage.

I notice that you can get a lot of cheaper service in Asian places. You can get a 1-h facial for like 20-25$, cut/color/highlight/style would run about 50$. Kids' cuts is like 5$. Even their grocery (especially fruits/veggies) are much much cheaper too.

One thing I do is make sure I tip them in cash, I don't add it to my credit card slip since this would be managed by the owner.

The girl I go to now is very good at incorporating a hand or foot massage to her service, she says: "you like masha ?" took me a while to grasp the meaning, lol.....

" yes, masha good, I like. " she's very sweet.

I'll back of some of what Bellaflora said. We own shopping centers. Each center has a nail salon owned by a Vietnamese family. One has been a tenant for over 10 years, the other over 20 years. They have to be licensed by the city and have their permits in order. I don't know if they require any type of health inspections (like restaurants).
We also lease to an Asian grocery store. Huge inventory, nice, clean and much less than you can purchase same item at regular grocery stores.

I agree with Tina, you should be careful when selecting. I've seen the horror stories on the news too. But that could happen in any salon.

Thanks Allison, I'm glad I got my point across. Yes, any salon. I wonder too if they are inspected. I know tattoo parlors are. (I had quite an interesting conversation with an inspector the other day, he happened to be inspecting the cafeteria in the building where I work, LOL.)

I'm curious, as I have not shopped in an Asian store. Where are the fruits/veggies grown? I do not buy these items when grown in another country. Please no one read anything racist in that, I simply prefer to support the US and feel some items are safer.

We have a great news guy here who goes around to these places where they have received a bad inspection rating, or complaints, etc. It's actually pretty interesting.

tina

Down in Albuquerque, most of the nail salons are now owned and operated by Vietnamese immigrants. I've had my nails done regularly for many years, but when my Non-Vietnamese manicurist retired last year to get "a real job with health insurance" (for herself and her kids), I tried out one of the nicer V-owned ones. They actually do a better job than my former gal did. Their place is nicely decorated and very clean. The prices are reasonable, but not dirt cheap, which is fine with me, as everyone deserves to make a decent wage. My only regret is that I can barely understand them. But, they're all such nice people. One V-salon I tried before finding my present one, kept their tv on a Vietnamese channel all the time, which truly drove me nuts! Everyone, including the tv, was talking a different language ~ non-stop. When I left there I had a bad headache. My present salon keeps their tv on CNN or the Food Channel so we clients can at least watch tv . . . as the nail folk talk between themselves in Vietnamese 95% of the time. But, like I said, the people I've encountered there have been very pleasant.
I am glad, though, that someone here suggested tipping in cash. Great idea!
Lynn

A brand new salon opened near by. I'm so happy, I can't even tell ya.

The owners moved from L.A. looking for a better market. Their business in L.A. declined yet rent and everything else went up. They weren't making it.

The quality of most nail salons around here is very poor. Not the cleanest and the quality of products used and the nail techs - terrible. But not cheap! When I first moved here, the lack of salons and what they charge for crappy quality & service left me shocked and kinda depressed. I know there are bigger things in the world, but...

I like mani-pedis. It's one thing I do for myself. And now there's a brand new pretty salon with techs who are really good and nice and they have all the pretty colors of polish a girl could ever want. It's a slice of civilization as I used to know it. âº

sheesheree, I was wanting to know because if they weren't getting paid a fair wage from their employer, I didn't want to go there anymore and contribute to the owner's place of business, that's all.

lynninnewmexico, LOL! I can just imagine about the headache.

My mom was kind of irritated at first about them speaking vietnamese only. But, I told her that is something you will have to get used to, if you don't want to pay for a nicer place and people that speak English. Kinda of like shopping at Walmart, I don't, because I don't want to put up with all the people and parking, among other things. It's not worth it to me.

I may try to find a girl in a nice salon I really like. But, where are they? I think the v-salons have taken a lot of business from the Hair salon-type mani-pedicurist. They may be hard to find now. Since I am now used to even paying for a pedicure, I don't mind paying a little more. I'll have to go looking!

Good to know about the tip also. Also, to know about the different ways they are run. Of course, I would never ask them-that is why I was asking here.

We had this happening in our area only it was a couple years ago. Everywhere you looked all of a sudden there was a 'nails only' salon, many of them located near some very nice neighborhoods. Then it came out in the paper that residents reported they were seeing men come and go via a back entrance at one. Next thing we hear on the news is Federal investigators are brought in. Turns out young women were being imported from Korea with promises of the American Dream, but the salons were a front for illegal massage parlors and all that indicates. It was very surprising, because that kind of activity doesn't happen in a lot of towns they had set up shop in. These were not run down sleazy looking places. Most were in brand new strip malls in newly constructed residential areas. There were at least half a dozen salons involved, all with different names in different nearby towns but all owned by the same two Korean men. All were shut down. Although many of the females were initially arrested, once they got to the bottom of things only a few of the older women were charged. But they didn't prosecute the younger ones brought here illegally because they weren't exactly willing participants.

I have read through most of the above posts and just wanted to add ,in case it has not been mentioned, that the pedicure /chairs can be a bacteria nightmare. That was one of the issues brought out in the media. Even if the salon does a thorough job sanitizing the tub the bacteria can still be in the plumbing. I have a friend who loves the asian salon near by - cheap and relaxing pedicure. She just told me she has a fungus in her toe nail. I will NOT go to those places that use the ped/chair. Please be careful.

Ah, I follow you now Olliesmom. It wasn't sinking in. Sorry I sounded snarky earlier.

Back in the day I went with my friends while they got theirs done and the jabbering back and forth in a different language drove me bananas. I just think it's rude to do so when someone is paying for a service. I know it might not be like that in all places but the people these shops weren't friendly either. Very rush, rush and not even a smile. I think it's a shame because how you present yourself can make a huge difference in your business.

Tina, I asked DH and he said "a refrigerated truck from Atlanta." How's that for an answer? lol They have meat too, but no butcher. We had a Pakistan family that ran a (holy) butcher shop - until goat heads started showing up in the dumpster. *shudder* They sold to a spice store, which moved several years ago to a smaller location.

One nail shop plays soap operas from their homeland on the salon TV. lol How's that for a headache!? (and you think USA soaps are bad!)

DH said nail salons have Health Department inspections here - have ratings posted, just like eating establishments.

Here in LA, most nail salons are either Vietnamese or Korean. You might be seeing more, as North Vietnamese have become eligible for increased immigration quotas to the US. It's a fairly cheap business to set up, operators don't need to speak English very well to get a license, and this kind of personal service isn't considered to be a "step down" culturally.

Back when I had a standing appointment and an office job to go with it, my favorite manicurist was the daughter of a South Vietnamese colonel. He served with US military, came to the US and worked as a security guard. She worked her way through UCLA, doing nails, married a Marine, and is a lawyer today. I went to her law school graduation, and could not have been prouder of her if she was my own kid.

Before we moved 16 months ago, I'd gone to the same Vietnamese nail salon for several years. It's owned by a couple, and Mrs. always did my nails and pedicures. They've been in the US for about 15 years and everyone who works in the salon is family -- sisters, nephews, cousins, etc., whom they've helped bring here. She's become a friend, and when we go back to visit, I often stop in to have nails done and catch up on their family news. I'm impressed with their family closeness, their care for customers, and their general attitude -- and the cleanliness of their salon.

BTW . . . FYI: Rugs are oriental. People are Asian. My Korean daughter-in-law tells me ASIAN people are offended by being called oriental.

That's true, Hostagrams.

Here's a blurb from Wiki:

While a number of reference works used in the United States describe Oriental as pejorative, antiquated or offensive in some instances, the American Heritage Book of English Usage notes that

It is worth remembering, though, that Oriental is not an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations. It is most objectionable in contemporary contexts and when used as a noun, as in "the appointment of an Oriental to head the commission." In these cases Asian (or a more specific term such as Vietnamese, Korean, or Asian American, if appropriate) is the only acceptable term. But in certain historical contexts, or when its exotic connotations are integral to the topic, Oriental remains a useful term.

Random House's Guide to Sensitive Language states "Other words (e.g., Oriental, colored) are outdated or inaccurate." This Guide to Sensitive Language suggests the use of "Asian or more specific designation such as Pacific Islander, Chinese American, [or] Korean." Merriam-Webster describes the term as "sometimes offensive," Encarta states when the term is used as a noun it is considered "a highly offensive term for somebody from East Asia."

I understand nail care is popular and the in thing to do, I had nails and got pedi's for years at a shop in LA and just want to throw out a word of caution. I grew to be good friends with the girl who did mine and religiously drove 30 miles each way every 2 weeks to see her. However I ended up getting a fungus under one of my toe nails and found out later this is a big problem with a lot of the salons. It took me years to get rid of it so please be aware. A salon can be the cleanest looking place in town but if they don't properly sanitize it's a problem. Not trying to rain on anyone's parade, but I thought I should share.