Nail salon Glosslove, which is in financial trouble, is unable to raise funds despite backing from celebrities including former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, The Chainsmokers, and rapper Lil Yachty. It has been revealed that some insiders claim that the company is on the verge of permanent closure.
The New York-based chain has promoted a waterless, hygienic approach to manicures and monthly memberships that give unlimited access to the salon, former employees said. The company is said to be in turmoil under founder and CEO Rachel Apfel Glass.
As The Post reported, Glosslab was recently accused by landlords of being hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent arrears even though it closed its stores. Insiders blamed overheated and chaotic expansion under Glass. Multiple sources claim that she was nowhere to be found even though the company was disbanded.
“She had no interest in the day-to-day operations of this business,” one former employee said of Glass, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Rachel was completely absent. Her interest was choosing nail polish colors. Instagram post”
Another former executive said, “Rachel was very interested in doing a podcast and being a working mom…She was trying to build a personal brand and ignored the brand she was running. “I was doing it,” he said.
Glass declined to be interviewed for this article. A Glosslab spokeswoman said former employees’ claims that Glass was “hands-off” and “absent” were “grossly inaccurate portrayals” of the company’s executives.
Sources said Grosslove recently defaulted on a $5 million loan from its main partner, Joshua Koba, co-founder of the publicly traded European Wax Center.
Last year, Coba acquired seven Glosslab salons, becoming its first franchisee and agreeing to expand the franchise nationwide. But now, the stores he bought are affiliated with a New York company in name only, former employees told the Post.
“It’s a delicate situation,” said another former employee, adding that without Koba’s support, the company had a “bleak future.”
Asked about the rift with Coba and the $5 million loan default, a Glosslab spokesperson did not deny the allegations, but said they were “inaccurate” and declined to elaborate. Koba did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chainsmokers declined to comment. The newspaper reached out to Culpo and Lil Yachty for comment.
Faced with a severe shortage of licensed manicurists, Grosslove resorted to expensive and unconventional initiatives, including purchasing Uber to transport workers from Manhattan to understaffed salons in Westport, Conn., and Hoboken, N.J. Although they are resorting to recourse, round-trip fares can easily exceed $300. Former employees told the Post.
In addition, New York-based technicians were given daily cash bonuses of $150 to $200 to cover shifts at newly opened salons across state lines, officials said.
The bigger issue, insiders say, is that the company has long faced complaints that it employs unqualified and unlicensed technicians. They continued to work despite accidents and concerns from customers, employees, city inspectors and others.
Glosslab was so keen on retaining employees that, “If a nail technician has a friend or family member who wants to work, they can train somewhere else with other qualified technicians.” I was going to get it,” a former employee told the Post. “They trained him for four to five days and then sent him to Glosslab.”
According to another former employee, “There were multiple instances where nail technicians cut customers or gave them botched manicures.” When customers complain, the company does not leave customers bad reviews. They were throwing money at the problem by offering free manicures and even free memberships in the hope that this would happen.”
A Glosslab spokesperson said, “All Glosslab technicians are licensed,” and “As is common practice in the industry, Glosslab offers a free manicure touch-up service if a customer is not satisfied.” I answered.
Officials said Glosslab was not only defrauding its customers, but also potential investors as the chain raced to raise capital.
“Every time an investor comes into the store, the company puts a fake appointment on our books to make us look busy and has a company employee present to make it look like the business is successful. He even got his nails done,” the former employee claimed.
“Many executives will be upset about that because they will remove all bogus appointments from their books after the investors leave,” the person added. “These reservations took up slots that could have been taken by real paying customers and lowered the metrics for that store on that day.”
A Glosslab spokesperson replied, “This is not true,” and added, “Glosslab pays its staff for every engagement. At no time has our staff been asked to provide services for which they are not compensated.” ”
Glass recently said, “We were looking for more investors; [she’s] We are concerned about sharing why there are so many closures,” said an employee who was laid off last year and asked not to be named.
As for Koba, he did not pay royalties and severed his partnership after Grosslove defaulted on a loan. Mr. Koba resigned from EWC’s board in 2021 and runs his own franchise consulting business.
“Grosslove is not supporting him as a franchisee because they don’t have the funds,” said a former employee. “They’re not doing anything that the franchisor is doing.”
The company began to spin out of control during the pandemic after partnering with Brooklyn-based angel investment firm The Lab, the people said. Co-founded by Andy Stenzler, who launched his Rumble Boxing and Fitness chain, TheLab brought in high-profile investors and guided Glosslab toward aggressive expansion.
At one point, Glosslab had 40 leases and 20 operating salons (currently down to 14), with another 20 under construction, sources posted. told the paper.
“The rent bill for the store we were building was the same or more than the store we owned,” said a former employee. By 2022, Glosslab was “already out of the store management business and only in the store opening business, which ultimately didn’t work out,” the employee added.
As of last year, Glosslab had raised “approximately $20 million,” Glass said in the article. fox business Interviewed and opened 21 stores in Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington, DC.
Despite the turmoil and severe lack of funds, Glass hired a consultant last year to run its social media accounts for about $8,000 a month, the employee said.
“We convinced her that there would be a revolt because she had just laid off corporate staff, but then she would decide that our next big thing needed to be retail products, but We didn’t have the budget, the people, the resources to invest in it.” It wasn’t a plan, it was a whim,” the employee added.
Some salons were shut down by local health inspectors. In Washington, D.C., salons at Dupont Circle and Market Circle have temporarily closed. Closed in November It has since closed permanently, according to the report.
According to the fired workers, when health inspectors showed up at their New York salons, workers were told to “just cover up and say they didn’t know anything and were just working here.”
Another former employee who worked at the Manhattan location in 2022 recalled nervous visits from city inspectors and confrontations with employees over missing license documents. According to New York state law, Nail technicians must complete a 250-hour course and pass a written and practical exam. Permits must be posted on the premises.
“He requested to see at least a photo of some of the nail technician’s licenses,” the source said. “They were panicking in the basement about it. The inspector ended up staying in the store for hours trying to get to the bottom of the problem and talking to the operations manager.”
Despite this, “nothing changed after that incident,” the source added. “There was no push or initiative by the company to license all nail technicians.”
A Glosslab spokesperson responded, “Like most companies in most industries, Glosslab management takes initiative when testing occurs so that employees can focus on their jobs.” Ta.
Persistent funding shortfalls have similarly exacerbated shortages of basic supplies at salons, such as gloves and nail files for technicians, officials said.
“The company was going to give us cheaper gloves sold at drugstores instead of the medical grade gloves we normally receive because these gloves were cheaper,” the official said. “While serving a customer, the acetone eats away at the gloves and creates holes.”
A Glosslab spokesperson said reports about supply shortages and poor quality gloves were “false.”
As Glosslab’s financial crisis worsened, the landlord of the Darien Commons shopping center filed a lawsuit in October seeking to evict Glosslab for failing to pay rent for several months last year.
The Post earlier reported that Grosslove is skipping other leases, including a retail space at 401 Third Avenue in Manhattan’s upscale Murray Hill neighborhood, which Grosslove is leasing for $146,542. A public notice was posted from the landlord claiming he owed unpaid rent.
