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."
