BY KATHRYN HRYCUSKO Special to the VOICE
Nestled in Fonthill’s Uptown Square strip plaza, Unique Nail and Spa opened its doors for business at its grand opening this past Saturday. Visitors were invited to view traditional Vietnamese lion dancing, partake in drinks and hors d’oeuvres and watch as Mayor Marvin Junkin performed a ribbon cutting ceremony. Those in attendance were encouraged to take advantage of the salon’s opening week deals and to admire the new building.
Built over the past four months, everything in the salon is new. Even in the final phases of its construction last week, the salon was already impeccably clean, its white floors shining and the new red and black desk chairs looking like something out of a sci-fi show. Standing alongside the chairs and racks of bright nail polish, is the pride of new salon, a new ATM where customers can conveniently take out cash while getting their nails done.
Though the Fonthill location is new, the owner, Sonny Dinh, has been in the nail salon business for some 15 years. Dinh hails from Vietnam originally, but came to Canada nearly 20 years ago, disembarking in Toronto before settling in Niagara Falls, where he currently resides.
Until recently, Dinh owned four nails salons throughout Niagara Falls and Welland, but sold them to focus on the Pelham salon, as well as on his other business—landscaping. A man of many trades, Dinh owns and runs Ultimate Niagara Landscaping, a company which keeps him running from job to job, particularly in the spring.
Both businesses reflect Dinh’s entrenchment and involvement in the Vietnamese community of Niagara. The businesses are small and run by family and friends, with Dinh’s girlfriend and sister taking on integral roles in the salon.
Michael Hinic, who helps Dinh with communications and publicity, says that the size of the business reflects the sense of community that is important to the owner and employees. Many of the employees are Vietnamese. Dinh says he sees them often outside of work as well and that they are all “very close.”
“It is really a family-owned, mom-and-pop business,” said Hinic.
Dinh has depended on this community over the last four months as he and his friends have done all of the work to renovate the salon and make it ready for business by themselves. While Dinh and his friends have spent a lot of time in the salon recently, he says that he will hand the reins over to his girlfriend and sister when it comes to doing nails. They hope to be busy over the summer months as residents of Pelham get ready for warmer weather and showing off their nails.
Dinh says they look forward to providing Pelham with a good salon service, and that they strive to “make the best nails for the customers, to make them happy before they go out the door.”
