| This study examines the micro-space of the Vietnamese-owned nail salon in Toronto. The Vietnamese nail salon has appeared in the Toronto streetscape, located in almost every strip mall plaza within the Greater Toronto Area. Identified by the fluorescent signage that reads, "nails" and "spa" the Vietnamese have carved a niche within the beauty industry offering a space where men and women can enjoy a quick and inexpensive manicure and pedicure. Traditionally, the beauty salon is a space where men and women can build relationships with their service provider and visit the same person each time they require a service. The participants in this study reveal how the Vietnamese nail salon is an impersonal space that resembles an assembly line. The study is made up of three main groups: Vietnamese nail salon owners, Vietnamese nail technicians and salon customers. I conducted fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with participants and visited approximately fifty nail salons from different locations across the GTA. The key issues revealed in this research are performance, frontstage and backstage, and how these practices are rationalized by nail salon owners, nail technicians and customers. |
