ETI has 41 Black owned nail salons that you should do business with

I was scrolling through the internet and saw a video of a Black woman being attacked at an Asian nail salon in Brooklyn. Someone filmed employees of nail salon attacking a customer with a broom and throwing liquid at her while she tries to fight them off.

The video which has since gone viral, has led to multiple arrests, public outrage and protests calling for the salon to shut down.

I’m going to file this incident under “Another reason to Support Black Owned Businesses.” In this case, Black owned nail salons. But as someone who gets regular manicures and pedicures, I can honestly say that I’ve not come across many Black nail salons and if I have, they are far and few in between. Not to mention, I actually have more friends than I can or would name who actually rather NOT patronize Black nail salons. Why is that?

While I know that there were training and entrepreneurship programs set up in the US for Asian immigrants, particularly Vietnamese women who still dominate ownership in the eight billion dollar nail industry, I still question why there are so little Black owned salons and/or why we choose not to go to them if we know about them.

Personally, my three favorite nail salons in the world happen to be all Black-owned: Powder which I recently discovered in Los Angeles, Sip and Social in Lagos and my all-time fave, Colour Riot Nails in London.

Although I haven’t had any negative experiences in salons, my go to spot in Philly is Asian-owned and the folks always treat me well, as does my go to spot in New Orleans, I’ve heard of my share of horror stories.

I won’t say that’s the norm, because I do believe that most Asian business owners who are concerned about their businesses actually do value their clientele (namely us). But as in most cases, we should seek to support our own.

That said, in response to some of your comments about us needing and wanting Black-owned nail salons to patronize, we’ve compiled a list around the US and internationally. (#BlackBusinessesInTheDiasporaMatterToo).

I’m sure we left out a few, so feel free to add another Black owned nail salons that do good work in the comments. And note, we’re not just talking about just any Black owned nail salons, but those that are clean, aesthetically nice, where they do good work and where customer service matters.