Customers of Beautiful Nails in Maryland were having trouble keeping their nail polish from smudging after they left the shop- a common occurrence at many nail salons. The reason? Sitting at the nail dryers was tedious. Many customers got bored and left before their nails had a chance to dry.

Jim Resnick, a partner in Beautiful Nails, came up with a way of making the drying process a more sociable, and thus more enjoyable, part of the manicure.

Now customers at the Beautiful Nails salons in Rockville and Gaithersburg sit around the Dry Bar while their nails dry. Far from leaving too soon, customers now sometimes linger around the bar after their nails are dry, just to chat.

“It has become the social focal point of the salon,” says Resnick “Many new friendships have begun there.”

The Rockville salon’s Dry Bar, pictured on this page, was created by attaching two standard bars (found in furniture stores). When it proved successful, Beautiful Nails had a Formica bar custom-made for the Gaithersburg salon.

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