New South University salon gives U-M campus easy access to nail services

When Connie Howard’s daughters went away to school from Bloomfield Hills to the University of Michigan, there was one commodity that they noticed was missing from the campus - a nail salon. Sorority girls were sharing taxis to go to a place 5 miles away to get their nails done, they told Howard. And this gave her an idea.

Howard said she had been considering her own business. With nine years of experience managing a successful doctor’s office in Troy, she was ready for a change. The combination of timing and need felt right to Howard, and last week she opened Polished at 1115 S. University in Ann Arbor.

Polished is an 830-square-foot nail salon with services priced to attract students, faculty and Ann Arbor locals. With $15 manicures, $25 pedicures and a $35 combo, the salon's prices are comparable to other off-campus nail salons.

Polished has five manicure stations, four pedicure stations and a state-of-the-art ventilation system that Howard says is unlike any other used in the area. The system adds to the industrial look of the salon, and was recommended by the city, she said.

Howard reports that the first week in business was a good one. “We’re really catering to a need.” Polished employs five nail techs and still is hiring. Howard says she needs to be picky in her hiring because the students who have been coming in are particular about their nails.

Two clients waiting for services at Polished on Friday afternoon were Rebecca Tober and Stacy Wood, the owners of the only waxing salon on campus, The Wax Loft.

Tober and Wood opened The Wax Loft 4 years ago, and the duo reports a steady growth in business ever since. They are excited to have Polished on the scene, and the business owners are planning to partner to promote services from both businesses for their clients.

Angela Smith is a freelance reporter for AnnArbor.com.