After 25 years in business in the heart of downtown, Los Gatos Nail Works is looking for a new home. The popular salon lost its lease following the sale of the building in which it has been housed since 1987.
Former owners Mark and Barbara Beck originally sold the property, located at 23 W. Main St., to real estate broker John Machado. The building, which also is home to the interior design studio owned by former Los Gatos Porch owner David Stonesifer, as well as the bicycle rehab shop, Cycle Recyclery, was then transferred in escrow to land developers and community philanthropists David and Shari Flick. The Flicks plan an extensive renovation of the historic property, then a lease to new retail tenants.
Stonesifer, who owns a number of properties in Los Gatos, does not plan to reopen his shop elsewhere in town, nor will the Recyclery (a nonprofit founded by the Becks’ son Derek while he was attending Bellarmine College Prep) remain in business. Nail Works co-owners Valerie Speno and Kerry Hull are reaching out to the community, hoping that a new site somewhere close by will become available before their current lease runs out at the end of September.
“We’ve had a wonderful run in this location, and have loved all of our landlords we’ve had over the years, including Mark Sorensen [former owner of Los Gatos Plumbing] and the Becks,” Speno says. “We understand that this is just business.” However, Speno says that the notice she and Hull received, specifying that the salon must find new space by Sept. 30, was definitely a surprise.
“We knew that the Becks were planning on selling the property, but we’d been told we’d be safe. It’s pretty difficult to close down one company that’s been in business for 25 years, find a new space and get set up there, all in less than a month.”
In an ironic twist, Sorensen originally sold the Main Street property to the Becks eight years ago over the Labor Day weekend, when Speno was in the hospital having her first child, Claire. “Eight years later, over Labor Day weekend, I got the notice to vacate in a month, because the building had been sold again,” Speno says. “It came when I was polishing Claire’s nails before her birthday party; it was kind of eerie.”
The moratorium on new personal care businesses on Main Street or Santa Cruz Avenue makes the salon’s move even more complicated, Hull says. “We don’t know whether or not we’ll come under that restriction. We’d like to stay downtown, where our clients have been coming to see us for all of these years. But does that mean that we can’t relocate, because we’re a nail salon?”
According to Sandy Bailey, associate town planner, should existing salon space facing either of the town’s two main streets become available, Nail Works can make the move without the need for additional licensing or permits. But if the salon opts to move into quarters previously dedicated to other uses, Speno and Hull must petition the Los Gatos Planning Commission for a new conditional-use permit.
Despite the need to find new quarters, Speno says she looks forward to seeing the work being planned by the Flicks. “They did a fabulous job with Icing on the Cake and the Soda Works buildings; I know Dave’s work on our building is going to result in a place that will be a real asset to the town.”
Flick’s need to lift the building to perform the upgrades is driving the impending vacancy, Speno adds, with the approach of the rainy season adding still more urgency to the completion of all repairs to the building’s roof.
“Ultimately this will be extremely positive for the community,” says Stonesifer’s partner, Larry Arzie. “The building is in desperate need of repairs and is in danger of becoming a fire hazard. At the same time, everyone’s scrambling to find a new location for Nail Works, because they’ve been wonderful tenants for years and they’re the most popular nail shop in town.”
With a quarter-century in business, and the daughters of original employees and clients now a regular part of the landscape at Los Gatos Nail Works, Speno and Hull say they’re gratified by the community’s response to their search for approximately 1,000 to 1,200 square feet of space. “Even our UPS man has been scribbling down phone numbers for us to call,” says Speno. “We talked to our employees, and we all want to move together. We were definitely in a panic at first, but we’re hoping something will work out.”
Hull echoes her thanks to the salon’s clients and friends, saying, “We’re looking forward to landing soon on our clean, polished feet.”
Los Gatos Nail Works welcomes suggestions for new properties at (408) 354-6245.
