Scarlet Communications Inc./selling cars to fat customers

David Kim has been in the nail business for 19 years. Hardly a record, until you realize this fresh-faced purveyor of
relaxing treatments is just 23 years old. “I started when I was four,” he admits, “and by five I realized how
powerful it was to make women feel beautiful. It amazed me.” Now the owner and Spa Director of V SpaSalon in
Garden City, New York, a well-to-do Long Island enclave just 30 minutes from Manhattan, Kim has set his sights on
bringing one-stop beauty treatments to a growing list of clientele.

Located on a fashionable strip of high-end retail shops and restaurants, V SpaSalon is a carefully designed mix of
bright, punchy reds, soft greens, with cantaloupe colored chairs, warm yellowy-beige walls, and glossy padded
natural wood floors. After firing an architect and deciphering an endless volume of restrictive community building
codes, Kim designed it all himself, right down to the perfectly placed halogen track lighting that illuminates
clients’ hands at the manicure stations but doesn’t make them hot. It took months to convert the space, a former
fur vault with two-foot cement walls and security wire everywhere.

“It’s modern,” Kim explains, “but cozy and comfortable. We sectioned everything off.” Clients can enter the salon
from Franklin Avenue, directly into the hair area, or from the rear parking lot to the manicure room. A large
pedicure and drying area is next, with two roomy restrooms, and unobtrusive spotlights guide a path to the
serene and private spa area, where aromatherapy candles flicker on the floor and the treatment rooms have
soothing dim lighting and a soft lavender scent. Ceiling tiles block out about 85% of the sound in the treatment
areas—any more and the space wouldn’t comply with fire code.

“Ambiance is what our customer pays for,” Kim says. “I’ve been doing this so long, I know exactly how everything
should look, feel, smell.” A self-described micromanager, he knows each of his eight nail technician’s strengths
and matches clients with the right staff member to keep both sides of the table happy.

“Some of our clients like to talk during their service,” he explains. “Others are unwinding after a rushed day at
work and prefer to stay quiet. Also, because our techs have cosmetology licenses, we can offer clients a full-spa
experience with just one person. Instead of going from person to person, clients see one tech for everything—
manicure, pedicure, waxing, massage—even make-up. I think they appreciate the seamless service, and the fact
they’re only tipping one person.”

Open in Garden City since October, 2005 (Kim’s previous location in the next town closed after a fire next door),
V SpaSalon now sees 40-45% of its business from nail services, “especially our pedicures,” says Kim. Spa services
make up another 35%, with the balance coming from hair services, including color, cuts, and thermal Japanese
straightening. A licensed acupuncture therapist is available on-site by appointment.

The top treatment? The Green Tea Spa Pedicure, a $50 custom-blended indulgence that includes grooming, soak,
massage “that makes your legs feel like butter” and polish. Clients can select from a menu of pedicure upgrades,
including reflexology or a warm gel soak. Pedicures take place in TK pipeless massaging chairs, with upbeat
romantic comedies playing on the large-screen plasma TV. “We turn the sound down during the massage portion
of our service,” says Kim, “so clients can totally relax.”

Kim is especially proud of the products used at V SpaSalon, most of which are imported from Korea. “We use a
custom citrus body scrub that’s fantastic; very clean, very fresh. The honey for our Princess Honey Pedicure is
flown in from Arizona.” The salon offers a large selection of Essie polish, and skincare products from IS Clinical and
Sothys.

Fastidious about cleanliness, Kim points out the industrial autoclave in the pedicure area. “We make sure our spa
and salon is always clean with sanijets, medical grade sanitizers, and most importantly, most of the products we
use are pre-packaged for one-time use (foot scrubs, body scrubs, files, etc).”

Kim credits his mother Annie Kim, an international award-winning make-up artist who works at the salon, for
budding his interest in the nail spa industry. “She is the ultimate tech. She does everything by the book. She
takes a leadership role.” And she does, handing one tech’s red-faced client a bottle of cool water, fluffing
another’s pillows, adding an extra drop of lavender oil to a footbath, or warmly welcoming new arrivals who’ve just
stopped in for directions to the pizza shop up the block.

She brought her young son to work when he wasn’t in school, and he learned the business by observing her and
the other staff with customers. When David Kim set off for upstate New York’s Colgate University, the seeds for
starting his own spa had already been planted. He graduated cum laude with majors in economics and
environmental studies. “I became very good at statistical analysis—and I learned how to build a business model.”

The combination worked. “I’ve done this my whole life,” he says. “I decided to be innovative. Everything here is
state of the art: hair, massage, facial techniques. And it’s small things. Some customers like to take their products
home in a bag. Others like a box. We give clients a little teddy bear when they buy a gift certificate, so it’s a
complete experience, not just a piece of paper. Our Valentine gift packages came with rose petal potpourri this
year.”

“One client likes warm towels and two bottles of water on her left side after her service,” he continues. “We
remember that.”

Kim describes his clientele as “wealthy professionals and mothers” with about 60% drawn from Garden City and its
neighboring towns. Women outnumber men, but his list of male clients is growing. “We get a lot of celebrity
athletes, and their wives. The men don’t like to be fussed over. They come in quietly, get their service, and go.”
But they come back, again and again, he admits.

V SpaSalon also has a growing list of teen and young adult clientele. “Their mothers bring them in for a special
occasion, but then they come on their own and bring friends.” A sophisticated bunch with disposable income, Kim’
s younger clients don’t limit themselves to basic services, but instead choose luxury spa treatments and high-end
nail services. “We get a lot of 16 and 17 year olds who ask for Brazilian bikini waxing and spray tanning.” Kim caters
to them, advertising V SpaSalon in school folders, and promoting his services for graduations, weddings, summer
parties, and charity events.

Advertising and marketing have been key to V’s success. The spa has a website, www.myvspa.com, with playful
images and cheerful descriptions of services and prices. Kim designed and built it himself, using a content
management program. “You can’t beat the website,” he says. “It helps the customer know what she’s getting
before she walks in the door.” The site is marketed to local and national search engines, so V SpaSalon shows up
at the top of most queries for manicure or spa facilities on Long Island.

“We have relationships with all the local concierges,” Kim says, “and they send their guests to us for special
treatment. We also advertise in local newspapers and magazines.” That client outreach works—and when new
customers see what their money gets at V SpaSalon, they’re hooked. “We offer the best value. Our competitors
charge more. We don’t have a corporate look. We’re not rushed. We give them a beautiful, personalized, unique
experience.”