From washing hands 'like you've been touching jalapeno peppers' to hourly cleans: Here's how nail salons are dealing with the coronavirus outbreak
- Business Insider spoke to the owners and managers of three nail salons on Tuesday to ask how the coronavirus outbreak has impacted their business - which is based on physical contact between manicurists and customers.
- The businesses we spoke with said they had already high standards for sanitation, but had upped the ante in the face of the outbreak.
- Staff have been concerned about the risks of working with the public, but have still been showing up to their jobs.
- The owner of one salon in Seattle said they experienced a slower weekend than usual, but that they haven't seen a dramatic drop in sales.
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Fear of the coronavirus has led many Americans to stockpile hand sanitizer and skip handshakes, so one would think that they would stay away from the nail salon, too. But that doesn't seem to be the case for three nail salons that Business Insider spoke with on Tuesday.
The three salons - one in Seattle and two based in New York City - said that they haven't seen a dramatic decline in business, but their employees are concerned about coronavirus and are taking extra precautions to make sure the virus doesn't spread on their premises.
Kelly Huynh co-owns Greenhouse Nail Spa in Seattle, Washington, with her mother. Their business is located in the epicenter of the US outbreak, and Huynh said a lot of her employees are "pretty scared, but not hysterical about it."
She said they have been keeping up to date on all the latest information.
"I kind of rely on them to tell me the news, all the new cases, especially locally. Everyone's paying really close attention and they're my first point for news," she said.
To protect her workers, Huynh invested in the coveted N95 respiratory masks, which are the best at filtering out droplets in the air that may contain the virus. They're a step up from the surgical masks that her workers typical wear while working.
The other two salons, Primp & Polish in Brooklyn, and Tenoverten in New York City, are sticking to their normal surgical masks, but making sure that their workers wear them throughout their service.
That's fine for the staff at Primp & Polish, according to general manager Jessica Austin, who says that the workers are so used to wearing them all the time that she normally has to remind them to take them off to speak to their clients so that they're understood.
"Now, we're not necessarily pushing that," Austin said.
Taking extra precautions
The salon owners and managers said that they already have high standards for keeping their businesses clean, but efforts have been increased because of coronavirus.
At Primp & Polish, the staff usually do a thorough clean in the morning, but now are cleaning "every hour on the hour," according to Austin.
That includes disinfecting doorknobs, bathrooms, and all surfaces that customers touch.
Nadine Abramcyk, co-founder of Tenoverten, said that every station has been equipped with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Since Tenoverten is a non-toxic salon, Abramcyk said she wouldn't normally have such a strong product, but feels "it's more important that people are using a hand sanitizer with enough alcohol in it to kill bacteria."
She says they have also been double cleansing their pedicure basins with a disinfectant called CaviCide "just for extra measure."
All three salons are throwing out tools like buffers, pumice, and files after one use, and cleaning their metal instruments after every use in an autoclave, a microwave-like machine for disinfecting metal that's used in hospitals.
And of course there is the constant hand washing.
"We wash our hands between clients, but its even more important to make sure that everyone is reminded to wash. Wash like they've just been touching jalapeño peppers," Huynh said.
One thing that's causing some concern at Tenoverten is having enough surgical masks on hand.
Abramcyk said they usually have a supply to last them for about two weeks, but she found out Tuesday that their supplier is facing a shortage.
"We're just not sure how it's going to affect us in the coming weeks," she said, adding that it's an example of the "trickle-down effect of people stockpiling" during the outbreak.
Stay home if you're sick
Staff at all three salons are being encouraged to stay home if they're sick. Primp & Polish and Tenoverten pointed out that they have paid sick leave, so that their staff don't have to worry about losing out on wages if they don't come in.
At Primp & Polish, if a staff member takes sick leave, they will be required to bring a doctor's note confirming that they are healthy and don't have coronavirus before returning to work. Staff at Tenoverten are also being told to inform their manager if a client comes in sick.
At Greenhouse Nail Spa, they've suspended their cancellation fee so that clients don't feel pressured to come to their appointment if they feel sick or are afraid of getting sick.
Huynh says they have seen "a couple of cancellations due to the coronavirus specifically," but says it seems like "most of our clients are doing their best to just live their life."
No declining sales, for now
While last weekend was pretty slow, Huynh pointed out that it's a slow season in general for nail salons. However, she says her mom knows of other salons that are having it way worse and said that they should feel lucky.
At Primp & Polish, Austin says they've actually been getting a lot of new customers, which she thinks may have to do with people questioning their usual nail spot.
"I think maybe some other mom and pops may or may not keep up certain standards and may be suffering because people may not want to take the risk," she said.
Austin added: "In general, a lot of our clientele are local and they trust us. They know our standards."
"We haven't really seen an effect on our business, year over year," Abramcyk of Tenoverten said. "Our numbers are right where they should be. But again I think we're in uncertain times, and I don't know if that will change tomorrow or next week. We're preparing ourselves for it to change, that's for sure."
Abramcyk said Tenoverten sent out a letter to clients recently walking them through how they keep their salons clean, and she said many have come in and expressed how thankful they were to receive that information.
She added that she's noticed that online sales had gone up recently, which she thinks may have to do with people who don't have access to a safe salon starting to do their nails at home. And hand moisturizer was a hot item, for all of those cracked hands from constant washing.
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