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year]. We also attend local shows. And every weekend we do demonstrations at distributors around the country. I don't consider it a cost; I call it an investment. How do you feel about nail art? All salons should offer nail art. It draws a distinction between [techs] and nail artists, and you can charge more. It's a must. Not everyone sees nail art the same way. Everyone sees the Mona Lisa in a different way. Do you have any tips for selling more nail products in beauty stores? Ask manufacturers to come in and provide demonstrations and product knowledge at the store. When a customer walks into a beauty store, the [store associate] has so many brands. It's difficult to study each brand. But manufacturers can help you move the merchandise with the help of their sales forces and educators; it's part of supporting the line. What inspires you to go to work every day? What is an example of a LeChat product that would sell well in beauty stores? Our Perfect Match gel polish is a total standout and different than any other gel polish out there. We invented the concept of matching nail polish to the gel polish in 2005. We've brought this concept back now in a packaged set. Customers get a matching polish when they purchase the gel polish. This is great because it lets clients easily match toenails to fingernails. Techs can also sell the nail polish as a touch-up polish for extra profits. In 2013, we will introduce limited collections where we will give two matching polishes with each gel—which can go on the salon display. If the salon sells the polishes, it ends up paying almost nothing for the collection. What's your opinion about home-use gel kits? Gel polish is all over the mass market right now. Home-use gel kits have always been resisted by the nail industry. [The concern has been] that if customers do it at home, they're not going to go to the salon. But think about all of the hair color you see in drugstores; so much [of it is sold] for so many different brands. But there's still a lot of business in the salons. People who want to do their hair color at home won't go to the salon because of the [expense]. But those who get hair color at [salons] will never do it themselves because they can afford [not to do] it. The same applies to nails. These nailcare products are actually helping educate the public to go to [salons]. The competition needs to be in the service [nail techs] provide and in creating beautiful nails, so clients tell others and [salons] get new customers. If [they're] concerned about [customers] buying a kit at the store, sell it to them in your salon for touch-ups between visits. LED lights are so compact now, you can put them in [a] purse. We just launched a to-go kit with a battery-operated LED light that cures one finger at a time while you're watching TV or sitting on an airplane. My message to [techs] is: Don't worry, embrace technology and make money [from] it. It's not going away. Some people change their own car oil too; but people still have to wait for an appointment if they're paying to have [it changed for them]. So don't worry about 56 February 2013 | beautystorebusiness.com what people are doing at home. Focus on what you're doing in the salon. How has the nail industry changed since you began LeChat? It has changed a lot. The gel business has brought it to a level that no one could have imagined. Look at the growth in the nailcare business. When I first started in 1988, it only cost about $30,000 to start a [nail] salon with a few chairs and tables. Now such a basic salon doesn't really exist. You need to create something more like a spa now. It needs to be an "experience" that you create for the customer. Salons also must retail gel polish to the customer to compete against big-box stores. The [techs] are the professionals, not [those] clerks at the drugstore. Which major trade shows have you exhibited at recently, and where can we see you in 2013? We do all the major trade shows, including the Long Beach International Salon and Spa Expo, IBS New York and IBS Las Vegas, all of the Premiere shows, Cosmoprof North America and Cosmoprof Asia, and Nailpro Sacramento [and Nailpro Pasadena this Seeing my business grow and watching my team create innovative products. Seeing all of the new things that aren't in the industry that we're going to bring into it is exciting. I just can't wait to get up in the morning and see what's new, and how we're going to make it happen. I also love talking to my distributors and getting ideas from them. There's still a lot of energy in me to contribute to this industry. What new things will we see from LeChat this year? We have some proprietary inventions that we're going to introduce in 2013. In fact, we have something coming out that will revolutionize the industry. It has never been seen before, and we are looking into patents for it. So you have a secret product coming out in 2013? Yes. What is it? Well, if I told you that, it wouldn't be a secret anymore, right? ■ Liz Barrett is an Oxford, MS-based writer and editor.