FOUNDER STORY
From Refugee to Founder: The Kevin Huynh Story
From a teenage entrepreneur in Vietnam to the founder of a professional nail supply company in Chicago, Kevin Huynh has spent his life looking for better solutions, developing new ideas, and helping hardworking business owners succeed. For more than 30 years, Kevin and The Nail Superstore have served professional nail technicians and salon owners with reliable products, reasonable prices, knowledgeable service, and practical solutions for the everyday demands of running a salon.
THE BEGINNING
An Entrepreneur from an Early Age
In the 1980s, Vietnam was still rebuilding after the war, and poverty was widespread. Few people could afford cars or motorcycles, so bicycles were the main form of transportation for most families. At only 12 years old, Kevin noticed that bicycle repair shops were buying tire-repair adhesive in small cans at a high cost. He began making and selling the same quality adhesive in larger bulk bottles. Buying in bulk helped repair shop owners lower their cost per repair, reduce operating expenses, and keep more of their earnings. That early experience taught Kevin a business principle that continues to guide him today: understand the customer's problem, find a practical solution, and help the customer save money or make more money.
THE escape
A 27-Day Journey of Life and Death
At age 15, Kevin left Vietnam alone by boat, without his family, along with 57 other people seeking freedom from the communist regime. Their journey across the open sea lasted 27 days. They faced severe thirst, hunger, violent storms, mechanical problems, and attacks by pirates. On the open sea, the difference between life and death could change in an instant. After surviving the journey and reaching Thailand, Kevin spent two years in a refugee camp before receiving the opportunity to begin a new life in the United States. He arrived with very little, but the experience gave him determination, resilience, gratitude, and the ability to keep moving forward when circumstances seemed impossible.
THE SALON FLOOR
Learning the Nail Business from the Salon Floor
Kevin's family settled in Seattle, where they opened a nail salon on Rainier Avenue in the early 1990s. It was one of the first Vietnamese-owned nail salons in Seattle. By helping with the family business, Kevin learned firsthand what nail professionals faced every day. Salon owners needed reliable products, reasonable prices, dependable inventory, and suppliers who understood how costly it could be when an essential product was unavailable or did not perform properly. Kevin saw a gap between what working nail technicians needed and what the supply market was providing. That experience became the foundation for his future business.
THE dream
Building The Nail Superstore
In 1995, Kevin moved to Chicago and opened Skyline Beauty Supply in the Tài Nam Market. The business became part of Chicago's early Vietnamese-owned professional nail supply community. In 1999, Skyline Beauty Supply changed its name to The Nail Superstore. The new name reflected Kevin's larger vision: to create a dependable source where nail professionals could find products, supplies, tools, information, and new business ideas in one place. The company grew from a local nail supply store into a wholesale and online operation serving professional nail technicians and salon owners throughout the United States.
THE SEARCH
Traveling the World in Search of Better Products
Over more than 30 years in the nail industry, Kevin has traveled to over 30 countries and attended hundreds of trade shows in search of innovative, reliable, and reasonably priced products for his customers. He looks beyond familiar brands and popular trends. He searches for products that solve real problems, introduce useful new ideas, help nail technicians work more efficiently, or give salon owners new opportunities to increase revenue. Kevin is especially interested in products that offer something meaningful and different—whether through better performance, faster application, improved reliability, reduced waste, a unique design, or a service that salons can add to their menu.
THE STANDARD
A Meticulous Approach to Product Sourcing
When evaluating new products, Kevin does not make important sourcing decisions based only on catalogs, polished brochures, emails, phone calls, or promises from a salesperson. His standard is to meet suppliers face to face and visit their factories whenever possible. He wants to see how products are made and ask detailed questions about materials, manufacturing, performance, quality control, and consistency. Before offering a product to his customers, Kevin wants to understand:
Why does the product perform well?
How and where is it manufactured?
Does it solve a real problem for the nail professional?
Does it offer a useful or unique idea?
Can it help the salon save time, lower expenses, or increase revenue?
Is the supplier dependable and willing to stand behind the product?
Can The Nail Superstore offer it at a reasonable and competitive price?
Kevin also takes time to build long-term relationships with manufacturers and suppliers. These relationships make it easier to resolve problems, improve products, maintain consistent quality, and keep important items available.
The product is for my customer, not for me. My responsibility is to do the research, visit the factory, ask the difficult questions, and do the work on my customer's behalf.
— Kevin Huynh
THE MINDSET
Curious by Nature and Focused on Solutions
With an undergraduate background in electrical engineering, Kevin has always been curious about how things work and how they can be improved. He applies that problem-solving mindset throughout the business—from evaluating products and improving warehouse operations to developing new systems, building online tools, and finding more efficient ways to serve customers. Much of Kevin's business and technical knowledge is self-taught. When the company needs a new skill, system, or solution, he is willing to study it, test it, and find a practical way forward.
THE INVOLVEMENT
Still a Hands-On Owner
Kevin is not a founder who stepped away from the daily business. He remains directly involved in purchasing, pricing, product development, inventory, warehouse operations, technology, e-commerce, marketing, logistics, customer service, and long-term planning. This hands-on experience gives him a practical understanding of the pressure salon owners face. Products must work. Prices must make sense. Orders must be accurate. Essential supplies must be available when salons need them.
THE PROMISE
Always Looking Out for the Customer
Kevin believes a supplier should do more than sell products. A good supplier should look out for the customer, find reliable products at reasonable prices, offer useful new ideas, and help solve problems. His goal is to find the best possible combination of quality, reliability, uniqueness, and price so customers receive strong value for their money. Sometimes that means finding a better price. Sometimes it means introducing a product that saves time, reduces waste, improves salon performance, or gives the salon a new way to earn revenue.
THE COMMUNITY
Supporting the Community That Built the Industry
Kevin remains especially grateful to the Vietnamese nail community. The nail industry gave him, his family, and many other immigrants an opportunity to build stable lives and independent businesses in the United States. He believes The Nail Superstore has a responsibility to support that community through honest business practices, dependable products, fair value, useful information, and service in both English and Vietnamese.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
A Message from Kevin
After more than 30 years in the nail supply business, my goal is still simple: look out for my customers, find reliable products at reasonable prices, bring them useful new ideas, and help solve the problems they face.
When I select a product, I remind myself that the product is for my customer, not for me. It is my responsibility to research it, meet the supplier, understand how it is made, ask difficult questions, and make sure it offers real value before I recommend it.
I know how hard salon owners work because my family worked in a salon, and I have worked alongside nail professionals for most of my life. Your business matters to us, whether you are buying one important tool or purchasing supplies by the case.
I will continue looking for products and solutions that help you save time, lower expenses, improve your services, and make more money.
My philosophy is simple:
Work with passion. Live with compassion.
— Kevin Huynh
Founder and Owner, The Nail Superstore
Professional Nail Supplies from a Source You Can Trust
Need reliable products, useful new ideas, and reasonable prices? Shop online, buy in case and save, or visit our Carol Stream warehouse.