Maggie Rants [and Raves]

Playing Nice

by Maggie Franklin | June 23, 2011 | Bookmark +

As is pretty usual here in Maggie-land, I might be the last person to get the details on the Minx vs. SheeKee drama.

Well ... I can't even claim to have the details now. I pretty much live under a rock, and I work hard at that too. I find life is so much more fun when I'm not busy being angry at everyone and everything.

I know, that seems so odd coming from someone who's blog is called “Maggie Rants.” Nevertheless, the truth is, I almost never know anything that's going on.

But I did hear that Minx Nails served SheeKee with a cease and desist order on the showroom floor at IBS Las Vegas on Saturday morning — or maybe it was Sunday. I'm not sure, I wasn't there.

I heard about it while I was at the show, but I have spent the little tidbits of my first day back at work catching up with networking sites and e-mail and now I understand that the incident has really created quite a stir.

I do very little "solid nail coatings" here in the salon, so both of these companies are pretty much off my radar. I gave this style of nail art a chance — I like the smell of the vinyl, but that's about all my investment has been worth. But my point is: I don't really have a personal affection for either company and I don't know much about the particulars of either company.

So one the one hand, I get the whole patent thing. And I'm pretty aware that letters from lawyers are business as usual in the business world. People sue people and businesses sue businesses all the time and often over ridiculously stupid stuff. Most of us never hear about it and the world goes on and so do most of the businesses and people. I'll let the courts decide who did what to whom on this one — the courts and, of course, the court of Public Opinion, seeing as how that jury is already in full deliberation.

What I will take a stand on — and I've been very satisfied to see that the vast majority of the industry appears to agree on this — is that serving a competitor at a tradeshow, on the showroom floor, in this manner (rumors abound that it was video’d and promptly posted on YouTube — as if to brag about it — but I've been unable to find such a video) was the pinnacle of TACKY. Reality TV-worthy, drama-queen tacky. Like, "Did someone spill some glue around this booth because my shoes are sticking to the floor here" tacky.

There's a coffee shop across the street from my salon. It's a local, independently owned coffee shop. And while I generally do prefer to support the small-time business owner, I have refused to do business with the guy across the street not just for the year and a half that I've worked in this building, but for the entire time he's had that stupid "Friends don't let friends go to Starbucks" sticker in his window.

Quite frankly, I am not a fan of that sort of business attitude. You will not make a loyal customer of me by being disrespectful of your competition, or by accusing your customers of betraying you if they should patronize someone else's business on occasion.

As I read all the comments and e-mails about the "solid nail coatings" companies' legal issues and their efforts to make them a public spectacle, I can't help but think about that coffee shop just across the street. I can't imagine how or why anyone would think this passes as professional behavior, unless they really are filming a reality show. What I do know is that I'm not the only one reconsidering my thoughts and feelings about the persons involved. I don't even care about the stupid patent or who's right or wrong here ... If I want a cup of coffee, I'm walking the extra block to Starbucks.

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