Mimosas and Masks: How a Charlotte nail salon is recovering from COVID-19 

Imagine saving for years to start a nail salon, identifying a location, building out the space, hiring employees, and carving out a new approach to personal care service. Five months later, in a business that requires close physical contact, COVID-19 hits. 

For Dr. Trang Tran and her husband Don Do, who own Mimosas Nail Bar in the NoDa area, the heart of the salon’s survival has been a relentless focus on safety practices and customer service. 

After opening in October 2019, they remember having to close in March 2020 as one of the most difficult times in their lives and the lives of their employees. A June 2020 survey by the UCLA Labor Center showed that only 6 percent of nail salon owners were able to keep employees on payroll, and the Mimosas salon was no different. 

“It was one of the hardest times of my life,” Do said recently. “It was just this gut feeling that I’m not going to be able to have a place where my employees can support their families. They gave up their positions to come to a new start-up, and I just felt like we were letting them down. The landlords around just weren’t able to give a lot of relief.” 

When Mimosas was able to re-open, two months later, they made a lot of changes. Based on Dr. Trang Tran’s experience as a dentist, new safety processes approached medical care standards. A four-page presentation documents the salon’s approach to COVID-19. Clients complete wellness surveys, have temperature checks upon arrival, and are required to wash their hands. Plexiglass barriers separate clients and manicurists, masks are required by all, gloves worn by manicurists, and stations are at least 6 feet apart. Supplemented by medical-grade UV-C disinfection lighting, stations are disinfected after every client. After seeing these changes, Do said, some other nail salons followed suit. 

They had already conceived the salon to meet high standards. It offers eco-friendly, non-toxic and cruelty-free products, and in an industry where more than 80 percent of workers are women and foreign-born, and one-third are head of household, Mimosas supports women and offers professional development for employees. The salon also offers complimentary mimosas, wine, and coffee — but during COVID-19,  asks customers to bring their own cups. 

“We wanted to start doing something that would give back to the community,” Do said. “The problem with most nail salons in the industry is that they don’t get it. You walk into most nail salons and they smell horribly, and it’s just a bad environment. So my wife had the idea of being something different. ‘Let’s be a part of the community, let’s make it fun, and let’s make it the best customer service that we possibly can.’” 

The community’s response has been positive. Yelp and Queen City Nerve named them among the 10 best nail salons in Charlotte.  

While they’ve had a few reluctant mask-wearers, Do and Tran think their customers are satisfied with their precautions. 

“At the end of the day, you put yourself in the customer’s shoes. How would you want to be treated? What safety measures would you want to be in place? Once you focus on that, everything else follows suit.”