After a long day of work or school you sluggishly walk into Sandy’s Nail Salon for your 6 o’clock appointment. Suddenly, you are greeted by smiling faces waiting to pamper you. Your body is put at ease as you slip into the massage chair for a pedicure and bathe your feet in the flowing warm water. With the television in front of you, you begin to feel as if you are at home, comfortable and very relaxed. “I’ve been to a lot of salons, but I haven’t been more satisfied than here at Sandy’s,” said a customer.
Sandy opened the doors of her nail salon in 2010 and business has been booming ever since. Sandy has been doing nails for 15 years, working at other nail salons and finally opening two of her own. The other nail salon that she owns is located in Brooklyn on 8th Avenue between 42nd and 43rd Street. Her brother Allen manages the salon in Brooklyn and she visits on occasional Saturdays. “I love to work with my family. I am happy that I work in a business where I can be close to them,” said Sandy. The location for the Long Island salon was chosen because she moved to New Hyde Park from Queens and saw that there was a movie theater on the same block as well as Synergy Gym, both of which would help to attract customers. Sandy’s business insight as well as her loyal customer base helps her salon to do well, even in tough economic times.
Sandy does not believe she has any real competition in the neighborhood. Not only because there are literally no salons in the immediate surrounding area, but because her nail designs and services are so unique. Word of mouth has been a huge contribution to Sandy’s customer base. One customer said, “I have a lot of friends who come here and they referred me. I don’t know who could compete with Sandy. Sandy is just better.”
Recently, Sandy has been advertising her unique designs on Instagram. This app that has taken social networking by storm allows Apple product users and Android users to share photos fun and freely. “One day a customer showed me a photo of her nails that I did on her Instagram page and it got over 50 likes. She helped me to make a page and it has helped the business a lot,” said Sandy. With business going so great and an Instagram page viewed by people all around the world who want to have their nails done by Sandy, one can’t help but wonder where the next location for a Sandy Nail Salon would be. Sandy replies to those queries by saying modestly, “I am not a businesswoman. I am a housewife.” Although eager customers who are not in the New York area would like to have such unique yet humble nail technicians as the ones that work at Sandy’s Nail Salon, Brooklynites and Long Islanders are lucky to have Sandy and her experts at their fingertips.