Well, this is too long for my blog and it involves naming some names, which is
always a touchy subject that requires some careful thought before you do it.
Nevetheless, I gotta say:
I went to Maly's today. I never go to Maly's. We only have one and it used to
be way across town so I just always forget about it anyway. I usually end up at
Cosmoprof-- which isn't any better for my needs. Which is how it came to be
that I took my license off the wall and hauled it down to Maly's today because
I didn't even have a Maly's card.
What I am looking for is one of the Axxium gel polish kits from OPI. The one
that has "Strawberry Margarita" in it. It just comes out cheaper to buy the box
sets than to purchase the colors open stock.
I'm not in love with the OPI gel polish BUT it IS available in the OPI polish
colors (which I'm also not in love with) which my clients adore. So despite a
hefty investment in Gelish-- which I AM in love with-- I decided to suck it up
and still stock at least some of the OPI gel polishes.
The problem? I can't seem to actually GET them. First, let me explain that in
the town of Visalia which boasts a population of just over 100,000 people, we
have ONE Cosmoprof store, ONE Maly's store, and TWO Sally's.
I do the vast majority (like 99.8%) of my supply shopping online. And OPI and
CND distributors continuously tell me that they are not "allowed" to ship
outside their "area" so I can't mail order products from OPI or CND.
And neither Maly's nor Cosmoprof (at least anywhere between Tulare and Fresno)
carry CND's new Effects polishes. So I guess I'm not getting them. So
(raspberry) you, CND. I guess you have enough customers in areas of the country
where your distributors DO carry the cool new polishes to make a profit and
that's all you need? Thanks for nothing. I can't even find a distrbitor for the
Effects line anywhere near me on the CND website. I love living in a black hole.
THIS is why Young Nails is so flippin HOT in this area! We have a DISTRIBUTOR
here and between her and the option of ordering DIRECT, we can GET anything YN
here. And THAT is why the YN booth is CRAZY BUSY at all the tradeshows!
But, believe it or not, the clear and distinct message that no one doing nails
in the 559 NEEDS the awesome new CND polishes is ENTIRELY BESIDE THE POINT!
(ok...at this point, is anyone else hearing my voice sound a lot like the
"Sicilian" guy from The Princess Bride?)
Because my mission today was to drop a $100 (did I mention I JUST ordered the
ENTIRE Gelish line? I have spent a LOT of $$$ on gel polishes this week!) for
this Axxium kit.
Which I knew Cosmoprof didn't have because I was JUST in there looking for it,
and every time I ask them if they are going to get something or if they can
order something, they sort of tilt their heads and look at me funny-- like my
dog does when I ask him if wants to take a bath.
So I went to Maly's. Which usually has a better selection of OPI products. I
went through the process of getting my Maly's card-- you know they won't let me
buy hair color? Because I'm "just" a manicurist. I can buy curling irons and
hair dryers and shampoo for personal use, but no hair color products.
I mean, I don't really NEED to buy color products, but it would be easier if I
could pick up my OWN pink dye so my stylist doesn't have to get it for me.
But I thought I'd ask: What if I had brought my Establishment license instead
of my manicuist license?
They said, "But it's a NAIL salon, right? So you'd still be restricted. If you
owned a HAIR salon, then it'd be ok."
Um. But California doesn't have NAIL salon licenses vs HAIR salon licenses. In
CA, a licensed establishment is a licensed establishment. The fact that I only
offer nails now has no bearing on what type of salon I actually own. (shaking
head in confusion)
Fortunately, the girls at Maly's seemed to understand that my questions were
mostly just questions. I guess I really don't care all that much what their
corporate policies are-- It's not like I can't GET the products somewhere else
and it's not really like I NEED to buy a lot of hair color anyway. And it's not
worth boycotting Maly's since they DON'T HAVE ANYTHING I NEED ANYWAY!
But I did point out that in the future, I would know to bring my ESTABLISHMENT
license instead of my manicuring license, and when they ask if it's a nail
salon or hair salon, I should say "it's a full service salon."
But again-- despite the fact that I think this policy is cockamamey insanity--
it's also not really my point.
They didn't have my Axxium kit either. In fact, they did not have ANY of the
Axxium colored gels. In fact, when I asked about them, the kind people working
at Maly's today looked at my with tilted heads much the same way my dog looks
at me when I ask if he wants to take a bath.
They had NEVER HEARD OF colored gel. At all. And they seem to be under the
impression that, despite being authorized distributors for all things OPI, they
won't be able to GET IT FOR ME either.
Now I would like to point out to the Powers-that-be and Whom-it-May-Concern
that it occurs to me that our various product manufacturers are not altogether
different from ourselves.
There are a lot of them. They all all competing against eachother for the
monies of their target demographic, ie, us. Just as we compete against other
salons and fellow nail techs in town for our customer base.
CND and OPI are just two names I am pulling out of the Big Hat for this rant,
but there are others too, who do not offer manufacturer-direct sales. If my
local distributor fails to stock an item, I can't simply order it from the
company website.
And both of these particular companies have made my job difficult by refusing
to allow their distributors to distribute their products outside of their
territories.
So I have to drive a significant distance to purchase certain products if I
really want them that bad. Which I have come to the conclusion, is more
cockamamey insanity. I am not going to buy 75 bottles of polish at a tradeshow
knowing that I won't be able to GET more of those polishes.
MAYBE I'll buy these dang gels at a tradeshow. MAYBE I can get them in Fresno.
But I shouldn't have to jump through these hoops to get a product that-- am I
wrong?-- I THOUGHT these companies WANTED me to USE!
I cannot believe that Maly's doesn't even KNOW what I'm talking about! They
don't even have it in their computer! And I can't believe that CND would
release a big fancy new polish line and NOT have it available to their customer
base!
IT....MAKES.....NO...... SENSE!
And don't even get me started on the equally clear and distinct message that
any notions of RETAILING products from these companies seems to be discouraged,
as I would then have to have one of these two distributors SPECIAL ORDER
products for me.
I'm tellin ya.... if I had a million dollars. Hrmph.
Maggie Franklin: Attitudes Salon; Visalia, CA
"Visionary rebel dreamer; obviously way ahead of my time."
Art of Nailz
Maggie Rants [and rav...@nails Magazine
Facebook
--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"NailTech" group.
To post to this group, send email to [email protected].
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to
[email protected].
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com/group/nailtech?hl=en.
