An American dream, rescued from the ashes in Morristown

By Larry Ripley

The first thing that becomes obvious when you visit  Sisters Nail Salon in Morristown is how much everyone in the place seems to like and enjoy each other.

That would seem to make sense, considering the owners are sisters.

Yet I’ve known many family businesses, and it can be a real challenge to get along with your relatives when you’re with them all day and you have to jointly make decisions that may be difficult.

I’ve known several siblings to become estranged from the experience. So when I meet people in a family business that do seem to be getting along, I’m very impressed.

When the three Argueta sisters, Clara (Tina), Maria and Rebecca were little girls in central Honduras, the dream of their family was to come to the United States to find a better life.

They lived in Las Lajas, a town of 14,800 people in the Department (State) of Comayagua. Taking advantage of a relaxation of U.S. immigration policies for people seeking to escape civil unrest  (Temporary Protected Status), Tina came to Morristown in 1996.

After a year or so of working minimum wage jobs, Tina saw a “Help Wanted” sign in the window of a nail salon on South Street in Morristown.

She thought that sounded like interesting work, and since the sign was in Spanish (she spoke no English at the time), she went in. She began cleaning up the place and doing odd jobs as the owner gradually began to teach her the profession.

A few months later he convinced her to take English classes so that she could get ahead.

After taking a night course at Morristown High School, her boss told her she should go to cosmetology school so she could become licensed. So, while working full-time and pregnant with her son Pablo (named for her late father –- and now in the U.S. Marine Corps), she took the train in the evenings to attend the Madison School of Cosmetology for 18 months to earn her license.

A year after Tina came here, sister Maria followed and Rebecca four years after that. When they arrived, the other girls also didn’t have any advanced education or marketable skills – they would have to learn.

And following their older sister into cosmetology, Maria and Rebecca also attended beauty school. The three Argueta sisters, now living and working here with green cards, also are working to become full U.S. Citizens.

They opened a nail salon in Morristown on Dec. 12, 2012 – the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe, a popular feast day in Central America. The Catholic feast celebrates the belief that a man encountered the Virgin Mary, Mexico’s patron saint, in Mexico City on Dec. 9 and 12, 1531.

The sisters hoped that founding their business on this day would bring them good luck. The name of their new shop near the train station on Elm Street: Sisters.

THE FIRE

Things were going well, with a growing customer list — until Jan. 29, 2015, when the fire broke out.

It destroyed several apartments and businesses on Blachley Place, and severely damaged the building that housed their two-year-old nail salon.

Compounding the tragedy, the fire occurred the day after the sisters’ insurance policy expired. They were supposed to meet with their insurance agent the following day to renew it.

So, without any insurance, the Arguetas struggled to get back on their feet and re-establish the salon.

Fortunately, they received some money from donations to a fund for the fire victims. They also tapped money they had saved to open a second salon in a nearby town. Instead, the cash helped them reopen Sisters Nail Salon at 44 Morris St., six months after the blaze.

Now, four years later, the place is jumping. Customers streamed through during a recent visit. Everybody seemed to know everybody else, and the vibe was warm.

And the future of this family business? Maria’s daughter Emily is set to graduate from the Morris County School of Technology this spring with the opportunity to earn a New Jersey State Board of Cosmetology and Hairstyling license.