Grove Avenue Salon LLC

RICHMOND It’s a typical morning at Grove Avenue Salon, which sits just east of Westhampton Theater, Phil’s Continental Lounge and Hampton House in a gray, two-story stucco house-turned-business on the north side of Grove Avenue. In one beauty chair sits a middle-aged woman getting a haircut. In a rush, she cut her own hair and has stopped by the salon to have her hair trimmed. An older, more matronly lady, asking about the weather after the winter drought, is in for a perm. As they talk, they dash about washing and cutting, stopping occasionally to answer the phone. On the surface, the Prak sisters appear to be typical salon owners. Most of the customers have no idea what the Prak sisters endured to get there. Indeed, in an era when some say the American dream has expired, the story of the Prak sisters’ long, painful journey from Cambodia to Richmond proves the ideal is still very much alive. Like many small, immigrant-owned businesses, Grove Avenue Salon is a family affair. Stephanie Prak worked at the salon for seven years before the sisters pulled together their savings, and took out a loan from F&M Bank to buy the salon last March. Amanda, who was a pharmacy technician, joined her sister just before they purchased the shop and sister Sunnary had been doing nails at a salon called Nail Perfection for five years. A year after buying the salon, the sisters are just beginning to build the business.