Chi Tran and his wife, Teresa Ha, drive every day from Rochester to the business they own in Albert Lea.

From the north side of Rochester at that. They traversed 120 miles a day six days a week for six years, all for Nail Tech in the strip mall south of Walmart. Why?

“If the kids say yes, I would move to Albert Lea,” Tran said. “I love Albert Lea. I would pack up and go.”

The couple has two children, a 17-year-old daughter and a 14-year-old son. They want to stay in Rochester, where they have grown up and are near their grandmother.

Tran, 37, was hired at Nail Tech, 2348 Hendrickson Road, 6 1/2 years ago. The owner was struggling with the business, offered a good price and Tran and Ha, also 37, bought the business.

They work there, offering manicures, pedicures and more choices for nails than most people who don’t get nails done probably thought imaginable, plus they have one employee. In the summer, they hire additional employees, because business is more brisk in the warm months.

On Friday, Tran was doing the nails of his insurance agent, Terin Bangert of Cafourek & Associates. She was getting what’s called a pink-and-white, where the nails are pink and the tips are white. Her existing acrylic nails had grown out, but not enough for replacing, and Tran was making them look natural without having to remove them by sanding them just right, then shellacking them.

“I think they do good work,” Bangert said. “Plus they are a customer.”

Cleanliness, sanitation and customer service are high priorities for Tran and Ha, as that can make or break a business in the nail industry.

“I try to do the best I can do — to do the job right — to keep customers happy,” Ha said.

Open six days a week, they offer discounts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Manicures and pedicures — hands and feet, respectively — are about shaping nails and caring for cuticles. There are options more decorative, too: Sparkle tips, acrylic nails, natural nails, paint, polish, pink-and-whites, overlays, fills, repair — the list goes on. Plus, Nail Tech has color options galore for nail polish, whether to buy in the bottle or apply in the store.

Though most customers are women, Tran said men sometimes come in, too. He said they are professional types who want good-looking fingernails.

“It makes you sleep good at night,” Tran said.

 

Nail Tech

Address: 2348 Hendrickson Road, Albert Lea

Phone: 377-2977

Hours: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon.-Fri., 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat.