Struggling for a year, owner of E. Lake Street salon may be forced to close

Gloria Morales waits all day, hoping a customer will walk into her beauty salon on Bloomington Avenue. Sometimes an old customer swings by for a haircut or a color treatment. But all too often, Morales said, she waits in vain.

Since rioters wrecked dozens of buildings in her E. Lake Street neighborhood a year ago, Gloria's Beauty Salon has become one of many small businesses that are struggling to survive both the pandemic and a sharp downturn in business.

For Morales, the end is near.

The Mexican immigrant plans to close her salon in July, eight years after she opened in this once-thriving urban corridor.

"People from Richfield and Brooklyn Park don't want to come to Minneapolis anymore because they are scared," said Morales, whose sales have dropped by 85% over the past year. "And I'm scared to stay here."

Morales plans to move her business into her home in Brooklyn Park if she can get approval from local officials and the Minnesota Board of Cosmetology. She said it's a move many former stylists have made since the pandemic forced salons across the state to close and later cut back on operations to abide by social distancing regulations.

Morales said many of those stylists are now operating without a license, and undercutting her prices by 50%, making it difficult for her to compete. She said she has complained to the state board but has seen no action.

"I am working hard," said Morales, who had five stylists working for her before the pandemic and now operates the salon by herself. "I want to do everything right because I don't want to lose my license. But they don't do anything."

Gina Fast, executive director of the board, said she was unaware of Morales' complaint or of any regulatory action taken in response.

Morales, who has been cutting hair since 1992, said it took her 10 years to save the $75,000 she needed to open her salon in 2013. She said she was attracted to Lake Street by its large Latino population, noting the neighborhood is filled with bodegas and Mexican-style restaurants. Most of her customers are Latinos.

The business was doing nicely until 2020. Though her shop didn't sustain heavy damage, rioters broke her windows, causing several thousand dollars in repairs. They also took about $1,000 in hair products. Her insurer didn't cover anything.

"They told me I didn't have coverage for vandalism," she said.

Morales was able to obtain $9,000 through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, but she said the money didn't help much since it went primarily to her employees, whom she had to lay off to keep the business afloat. Morales said she hasn't received any other assistance and is four months behind on her rent. She is so distressed over her situation that she was hospitalized for depression for two weeks in February.

"The government says they are going to help us, but how?'" Morales said. "It's not fair."

Jeffrey Meitrodt • 612-673-4132