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Embattled nail salon Glosslab has been scrambling for cash despite celebrity backers that include former Miss Universe Olivia Culpo, The Chainsmokers and rapper Lil’ Yachty — and some insiders claim the company is in danger of shutting down for good, The Post has learned.

The New York-based chain — which has touted a water-free, hygiene-minded approach to manicures and monthly memberships for unlimited access to its salons — has been mired in chaos under founder and CEO Rachel Apfel Glass, according to former employees.

As reported by The Post, Glosslab has lately been accused by landlords of skipping hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent, even as it has shuttered stores. Insiders blame an overheated and chaotic expansion under Glass — with multiple sources claiming she was nowhere to be found even as the company unraveled.

“She had no interest in the day-to-day operations of this business,” one former employee said of Glass, asking not to be identified. “Rachel was fully absentee. Her interest was in picking out nail polish colors for Instagram posts.”

Another former executive said, “Rachel was very interested in doing podcasts and being a working mom She was trying to build a personal brand but neglecting the brand she was running.”

Glass declined to be interviewed for this article. A spokesperson for Glosslab said former employees’ allegations that Glass was “hands off” and “absentee” were “a very inaccurate characterization” of the executive.

Glosslab recently defaulted on a $5 million loan from a key partner — Joshua Coba, the co-founder of publicly-held European Wax Center, sources said.

Last year, Coba bought seven Glosslab salons, becoming its first franchisee and agreeing to expand the franchise nationwide. But now the stores he bought are affiliated with New York company in name only, former employees tell The Post.

“It’s a delicate situation,” another former employee said, adding that without Coba’s support the company has a “bleak future.”

Asked about the rift with Coba and the $5 million loan default, a Glosslab spokesperson did not deny the allegation, but called it “inaccurate,” declining to elaborate. Coba didn’t respond to requests for comment.

The Chainsmokers declined to comment. The Post reached out to Culpo and Lil’ Yachty for comment.

Faced with a dire shortage of licensed nail technicians, Glosslab has resorted to costly and bizarre measures — including buying Uber rides to send workers from Manhattan to understaffed salons in Westport, Conn., and Hoboken, NJ — a roundtrip that could easily top $300, former employees told The Post.

In addition, New York-based technicians were handed daily cash bonuses of $150 to $200 to cover shifts in newly opened salons across state lines, sources said.

The bigger problem, according to insiders: The company has long fielded complaints that it hired underqualified and unlicensed technicians — who kept their jobs despite mishaps and concerns raised by customers, employees and city inspectors alike.

Glosslab was so desperate for workers that “if nail techs had friends or family that wanted to work, we would have them train at one of the locations alongside another licensed technician,” a former employee told The Post. “They’d train for four or five days and then be sent to Glosslab.”

According to another former employee, “We had numerous instances of nail techs cutting clients, or giving them botched manicures. When clients would complain, the company would throw money at the problem by giving them a free manicure or even free memberships in hopes they wouldn’t leave a bad review.”

A Glosslab spokesperson responded that “all of Glosslab’s technicians are licensed,” and that, “As is common practice in the industry, Glosslab offers free services to correct manicures if a customer isnt satisfied.”

It wasn’t just customers that Glosslab was deceiving — but also prospective investors as the chain scrambled to raise cash, according to sources.

“Whenever an investor would be visiting the store the company would place fake appointments in our books so we would look busy, even going as far as having employees of the company sit in and get their nails done to give the illusion of a successful business,” a former employee claimed.

“Many managers would be upset about that because after the investor would leave they would delete all the fake appointments out of the books,” the source added. “These appointments took up slots that actual paying customers could have taken causing that store’s metrics to be down for that day.”

A Glosslab spokesperson responded that “this is untrue,” adding, “Glosslab pays its staff for every appointment. Staff were never asked to provide services for which they were not compensated.”

Glass was recently “looking for more investors, but [she’s] concerned about sharing why there’s so many closures,” added a worker, who was laid off last year and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

As for Coba, he doesn’t pay royalties and has severed ties as a partner after Glosslab defaulted on his loan. Coba stepped down from EWC’s board in 2021 and runs his own franchising consulting business.

“Glosslab is not supporting him as a franchisee because they dont have the resources to,” said a former employee. “They are not doing any of the things that a franchisor does.”

Insiders say the company began spiraling out of control during the pandemic after it partnered with The Lab, a Brooklyn-based angel investment firm. Co-founded by Andy Stenzler, who started the Rumble boxing fitness chain, The Lab brought in celebrity investors and steered Glosslab towards aggressive expansion.

At one point, Glosslab had 40 leases, including 20 operating salons — it’s down to 14 now — and another 20 under construction, sources told The Post.

“Our rent bill for stores we were building was as high if not higher than the stores we had,” a former employee said. By 2022, Glosslab “was already out of the business of running stores and only in the business of opening stores and thats ultimately what went wrong,” the employee added.

As of last year, Glosslab reportedly raised roughly $20 million Glass said in a Fox Business interview and had opened 21 locations across Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas and Washington, DC.

Despite the chaos and the dire cash shortage, Glass last year hired a consultant at about $8,000 per month to run her social media accounts, according to the employee.

“We convinced her that there would be a mutiny since she had just laid off corporate staff, but then shed decide that our next big thing needs to be retail products but we had neither the budget nor the staff or resources to invest in it. It wasnt a plan, it was a whim,” the employee added.

Some salons were shut down by local health inspectors. In Washington DC, the Dupont Circle and Market Circle salons were temporarily closed in November and have since closed for good, according to a report.

If health inspectors ever showed up at New York salons, workers were instructed to “give them the runaround and say you don’t know anything and you just work here,” according to a laid-off worker.

Another former employee who worked at a Manhattan location in 2022 recalled a tense visit from a city inspector who confronted staff over their lack of license documentation. According to New York law, nail technicians must complete a 250-hour course and pass written and practical exams. Their licenses must beposted on the premises.

“He demanded to see at least pictures of some of the nail tech’s licenses,” the source said. “They were panicking in the basement over it. The inspector ended up staying for hours in our store speaking to the director of operations trying to get to the bottom of the issue.”

Nevertheless, “After that incident, nothing changed,” the source added. “There was no company push or initiative for all nail tech’s to be licensed.”

A Glosslab spokesperson responded: “Like most companies in most industries, managers at Glosslab take the lead when inspections occur so employees can focus on their jobs.”

The rep added that all of the other allegations made by former employees are either untrue or inaccurate.”

Constant cash crunches likewise spurred shortage of basic supplies at salons, including gloves and nail files for technicians, insiders said.

“The company would drop off cheap drug store gloves and not the medical grade gloves we usually received, because these gloves were cheap,” a source said. “The acetone would eat through the gloves and cause holes in them mid service with the client.”

A Glosslab spokesperson said reports of short supplies and lesser-quality gloves were “untrue.”

As Glosslab’s financial woes worsened, the landlord of the Darien Commons shopping center sued in October to evict Glosslab for failing to pay its rent for several months last year.

Glosslab has skipped out on other leases, The Post earlier reported, including its retail space at 401 Third Ave. in Manhattans upscale Murray Hill neighborhood, which displayed a public notice from its landlord alleging that Glosslab owes it $146,542 in back rent.

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Rangers polish off Caps for first sweep since ’07

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April 29, 2024

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Rangers polish off Caps for first sweep since '07

  • ESPN News Services

Apr 28, 2024, 10:54 PM ET

WASHINGTON — Artemi Panarin scored the go-ahead goal on the power play early in the third period, Igor Shesterkin made 23 saves and the New York Rangers advanced to the second round of the playoffs by finishing off a sweep of the Washington Capitals with a 4-2 victory in Game 4 on Sunday night.

Trade deadline pickup Jack Roslovic sealed it with an empty-netter with 51 seconds left, and the Rangers next will face either the Carolina Hurricanes or crosstown rival New York Islanders with a spot in the Eastern Conference finals at stake. Carolina leads that series 3-1.

They’ll get the benefit of some extra rest thanks to Panarin’s goal with 16:39 left in regulation, 11 seconds after T.J. Oshie was penalized for high-sticking Vincent Trocheck, which helped them avoid overtime or this series returning to Madison Square Garden for a Game 5 on Wednesday. The Presidents’ Trophy winners for having the best regular season in the NHL needed just four to vanquish the Capitals and become the first team to advance this spring.

It was New York’s first sweep since 2007, when they ousted the Atlanta Thrashers in the firstg round.

New York moves on thanks to another dominant performance from Trocheck, who was the best player on the ice all series. Trocheck long before drawing the crucial penalty scored on the power play and broke up a scoring chance by Alex Ovechkin, who was held off the scoresheet entirely through four games — the first time that has happened in a single postseason in the Capitals captain’s 15 trips.

But he was not Washington’s only problem, and part of the lack of offense was Shesterkin, who several times sparked chants of “Igor! Igor!” from the many Rangers fans in attendance. He turned aside Dylan Strome 14 seconds after Kaapo Kakko scored in the first minute to put them ahead and later made back-to-back saves on Tom Wilson’s point-blank chances on the doorstep.

Trocheck, Shesterkin and MVP candidate Panarin leading a victory is nothing new, but Kakko contributing made him the 11th New York player to score a goal in the series. That came after Nick Jensen turned the puck over on his first shift back from a two-week injury absence, and Kakko beat Charlie Lindgren for a goal that could boost his confidence after a rough regular season.

Lindgren, who has not lacked self-belief, couldn’t again play the hero despite stopping 19 of the 22 shots he faced. Youngsters Martin Fehervary and Hendrix Lapierre scored for Washington, a significant underdog now able to take solace in making the playoffs as a building block for the future.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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3-1 Canucks earn 3rd win with 3rd different goalie

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April 29, 2024

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3-1 Canucks earn 3rd win with 3rd different goalie

  • Associated Press

Apr 28, 2024, 10:36 PM ET

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Injuries have forced the Vancouver Canucks to change goalies now for a third time in their first four playoff games.

Thanks to Casey DeSmith and now Arturs Silovs winning the first postseason games of their careers, the Canucks are making history and are one victory away from the next round.

Silovs made 27 saves in his NHL playoff debut Sunday as Vancouver rallied and staggered Nashville with a 4-3 overtime victory.

A sixth-round pick in the 2019 draft, Silovs said he had a little bit of a blackout at the final horn and didn’t know who hugged him first. But with All-Star Thatcher Demko and then DeSmith both sidelined by injuries, Silovs learned Saturday he would be starting.

“It was great. My time to shine,” Silovs said.

The Canucks became only the second team in NHL history to have three different goalies win each of their first three games in a postseason. Vancouver also did it during the 2004 Western quarterfinals with Dan Cloutier in Game 1, Johan Hedberg in Game 3 and Alex Auld in Game 6.

Chicago in the 1972 quarterfinals was the only other team in NHL history with three different goalies to win a game at any point in a series. Tony Esposito won Game 1, Gary Smith took Game 3 and Gerry Desjardins was in net for Game 4.

The Canucks started Demko in a Game 1 win in the All-Star goalie’s third game back from a knee injury that sidelined him March 9. Coach Rick Tocchet announced Demko is week-to-week with an unspecified injury.

That’s when DeSmith started both Games 2 and 3, and he got his first postseason victory Friday night. DeSmith was leveled by a hit from Predators forward Michael McCarron behind the net, which earned McCarron a $2,000 fine from the NHL on Saturday. DeSmith was seen at practice Saturday.

Tocchet said DeSmith is dealing with an injury. Asked who will start in net Tuesday night for Game 5 with Vancouver having a chance to clinch a series on home ice for the first time since the 2011 Western Conference final, Tocchet said they would evaluate DeSmith’s status Monday.

“It’s next man up, so I think that’s the approach and we’ll see how it shakes out,” Tocchet said.

A native of Riga, Latvia, Silovs is 6-2-1 with a 2.62 goals against average and an .898 save percentage in the regular season. He leaned on his experience playing for Latvia in the world championships in this game.

“It was like the same atmosphere, I would say,” Silovs said. “Either they boo you or they’re for you. It’s always great to play.”

Tocchet didn’t think Silovs looked nervous, even before the game when the goalie wasn’t saying much.

“I don’t think the moment’s too big for him,” Tocchet said. “I like his demeanor. I think watching Casey and watching Demmer is something that he’s watched the last couple of years for help.”

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‘Self-inflicted’ issues doom Jets as Avs win Game 4

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April 29, 2024

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'Self-inflicted' issues doom Jets as Avs win Game 4

  • Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterApr 28, 2024, 08:11 PM ET

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      Ryan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.

DENVER — The Winnipeg Jets are on the verge of getting eliminated in five games in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second straight season.

A 5-1 loss Sunday to the Colorado Avalanche sent the Jets into a 3-1 series hole while facing numerous questions about what has gone wrong with them since they won Game 1.

“The problems are self-inflicted,” Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “Want to take penalties? Want to play a three-quarter ice game? You’re playing right into their hands.”

One of the main questions facing the Jets: What’s going on with star goaltender and 2020 Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck?

Hellebuyck entered the playoffs with a 37-19-4 record, a 2.39 goals-against average and a .921 save percentage. It was the sort of season that allowed the Jets to finish with 52 wins and 110 points and become discussed as a serious challenger in the Western Conference.

It’s also why Hellebuyck is in line to potentially win a second Vezina as he finished the regular season ranked second in wins, second in save percentage, third in GAA among goaltenders with more than 40 games and fifth in shutouts.

This postseason, however, has provided a contrast.

The Jets were formidable in the regular season in part because they allowed 29.6 shots per game, 11th fewest in the NHL, while also giving up the ninth-fewest scoring chances per 60 minutes, according to Natural Stat Trick.

In four games against the Avs, they have allowed an average of 38.3 shots. Only the Los Angeles Kings have allowed more, at 38.7 per contest, this postseason. As for their scoring chances per 60, only the Vegas Golden Knights have given up more than the Jets on that front.

Sunday was a reflection of that reality. Hellebuyck faced more than 30 shots and allowed more than four goals for a fourth straight game. It led to him being pulled to start the third period, with the Jets turning to Laurent Brossoit to finish the contest.

Hellebuyck has a 5.05 GAA, a .870 save percentage and has allowed 19 goals through four playoff games.

“[To] give him a break,” Bowness said of why he pulled Hellebuyck. “It was just too much. … He was having to make save after save. Just giving him a break. It’s not on him whatsoever. It’s on the players in front of him.”

Jets alternate captain Mark Scheifele agreed with Bowness’ assessment.

“I don’t think those goals are his fault,” Scheifele said. “He’s our backbone, he’s our heart and soul.”

Giving up power-play opportunities and watching the Avalanche convert those chances are what doomed the Jets in a 5-2 loss in Game 3.

The same issue hindered them again Sunday.

Both teams went on the power play four times, but the Avalanche scored twice while the Jets didn’t score at all. Valeri Nichushkin, who finished with a hat trick, scored the first power-play goal that gave the Avs a 2-1 lead more than eight minutes into the second period.

After star defenseman Cale Makar pushed the lead to 3-1 more than four minutes later, Nichushkin increased the lead to 4-1 with his second power-play goal of the day. He completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal in the third.

“For us right now, we’re working well as a five-man unit,” Makar said. “I think both power-play units are doing a great job at puck possession and finding ways to generate opportunities at the net, whether that’s to screen or getting pucks there. For us, I think it’s just a cohesive unit right now and we’re trying to find different ways to exploit them.”

The Jets entered Sunday without defenseman Brenden Dillon, who sustained a lacerated right hand as part of an on-ice scrum at the end of Game 3.

Dillon’s absence was compounded by the fact the Jets also lost Vladislav Namestnikov in the third period. The forward, who once played for the Avalanche, was injured when the Jets won a faceoff and a Nate Schmidt slap shot struck Namestnikov’s face.

Namestnikov was on the ice for a few minutes before slowly getting up. The Jets athletic training staff assisted Namestnikov, who compressed the blood on his face with a towel, to their back room for treatment. Bowness said Namestnikov was taken to a hospital but the coach had no update on his condition.

After missing the playoffs in the 2021-22 season, the Jets returned in 2022-23 and opened with a 5-1 win over the Vegas Golden Knights before losing the next four games to the eventual defending champions.

Having one of the strongest regular seasons of any team in the NHL led to the belief that this year could be different. The idea was made even more real by the fact that they were 3-0 against the Avs and scored 17 goals in those contests.

Now the Jets must win Game 5 or they will have another early exit as the Avs try to win their second Stanley Cup title in three years.

“It’s completely different,” Scheifele said when asked if this year’s playoffs are similar to those of last season. “Completely different teams on both sides of the coin. We had a good regular season against them. They made adjustments and we haven’t. We’ve got to bring a different game come Tuesday.”

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