it’s a cash business, mostly. I’ll bet the sales are way underreported to the IRS. The ladies are sweet and work very hard. I have seen them taken advantage of by male shop owners, though, e.g. having to hand over their tips.
Because men are EEEVIL! Seriously, I hate to see anyone taken advantage of. I think more of the women are opening their own shops now.
The shop owner is usually the husband of the Nr.1 nail tech and probably related to the others. Often one of the nail techs is the actual owner and the front man is a relative who has the job for security reasons and because people are less apt to leave without paying. He is often a rough looking individual whose English ability varies with the needs of the moment. Most of these shops are family operations. Families send their kids to college out of them and have nice houses. Some of these men and women have college degrees but make more money doing nails. The son of a friend is a pharmacist during the week and a nail tech on weekends.