From Jan. 30 through Feb. 1, beauty manufacturers showed their latest wares and chatted with their clients about the industry. In light of the economic recession, NAILS asked: How is 2010 looking so far? Have you made any changes to the way you do business? Here is a selection of the responses we heard.

“In the early part of 2009, we were looking at bringing out two new items, but we were hesitant to invest the money. We did invest the money, and 2009 was a positive year for us. We had an increase in business because our new rechargeable file did well with the professional Caucasian and Asian markets and the TurboFileII did well with beginners. Our export business also increased a little. 2010 will be business as usual. We’re looking to improve some of our existing products, plus we have some new items on the table.” -- Steve Wallace, VP sales & marketing, Medicool Inc.

“Our sales are up again. I attribute that to the product design and to the team that we have. But we have to hustle to stay ahead, so we’ll be introducing new lines at Cosmoprof.” -- Claire Steele, co-founder/art director, Jessie Steele

“People are ready to go out and spend. As we see the economy getting better, we’re trying to grow our product line and appeal to new markets, such as with the launch of new scents.” -- Erin Cruz, COO, Sensuous Solutions

“I’ve become more aware on how I’ve spent money on things that I shouldn’t. For 2010, I’ve eliminated a few trade shows from the company’s schedule — including IBS New York and America’s Beauty Show in Chicago — and I’m doing more on the Internet.” -- Bruce Atwood, CEO/president, Atwood Industries

“We didn’t feel much of the recession. We’ve had phenomenal growth. I think education is a big part of our company’s growth. In order to buy our products, you have to buy a ‘starter kit’ first, which includes a voucher for an eight-hour in-person class. Training classes are scheduled across the U.S. for groups no larger than eight attendees. Educators are flown to areas where we do not have an educator in place. The other reason we’ve had growth is by staying on top of the latest trends." -- Elsie Visser, president, Bio Sculpture Gel

“In 2009, we held off on our ‘nail girl’ ad campaign, which we just launched in 2010. This year is off to the best start we’ve had in the past three years. Our growth has mostly been international and due to the introduction of new colors in our line.” -- Rick Slack, president, NSI

“Starting out in 2010, it’s mostly normal, but not quite. We’ve had to increase our pricing because the strength of the dollar has gone down, which affects us because we import a lot of materials.” -- Richard Hurter, director of marketing and sales, Kupa Inc.

“We didn’t raise prices this year. We were supposed to do a price increase on January 1, but we didn’t. We’re doing a lot of retail business but not as much salon business right now.” -- Cindy Scott, partner, BB Couture