Inside the economics of the Vietnamese-owned nail industry

The story of how Vietnamese refugees came to dominate the American nail salon industry is well documented: actress Tippi Hedren, moved by a group of refugee women admiring her manicure at a resettlement camp in the 1970s, arranged manicurist training for them, and word spread from there. Decades later, Vietnamese Americans own a large share of nail salons nationwide — but owners say the business itself looks very different than it did even ten years ago.

Commercial rents in many strip malls have risen sharply, squeezing margins for salons that compete almost entirely on price. At the same time, a persistent labor shortage — fewer new immigrants entering the trade, and fewer of their American-raised children choosing to continue it — has left many owners working longer hours themselves rather than easily hiring replacement staff.

"My mother worked six days a week for thirty years so I wouldn't have to do this," said one second-generation salon owner who took over her mother's shop after initially pursuing a different career. "Now I'm back here anyway, just with better bookkeeping." She's part of a smaller but real cohort of adult children returning to take over family salons, sometimes modernizing operations with online booking and updated safety practices, rather than watching the business close when their parents retire.

State-level licensing reform, aimed at improving air quality standards and chemical safety in salons, has added compliance costs that owners broadly support in principle but say have landed unevenly on smaller, independently owned shops with the thinnest margins. Industry associations are pushing for phased implementation and small-business support funding, arguing that the salons most in need of safety upgrades are often the ones least able to afford them quickly.