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The next time you're at a salon or spa having a professional manicure, you may be surprised to know that one of the most important tools for your manicure, the nail file, is a specialized item made right here in Utah.
DHS Products, based in Cedar City, provides more than 300 different varieties of professional salon boards. The highly-technical products have a plastic core that increases their durability and means they're unlike other products available in the industry. In fact, company president Dallas Stephens tells me DHS holds patents on several of its specialized nail files. It also offers other products such as manicure supplies and abrasives for the hobby/craft industry, but the beauty industry is its main focus.
Dallas says DHS Products was founded in 1992 and has sold more than 225 million nail files. Prior to opening DHS, he had been employed with a company in Southern California. After the owner of the company passed away, Dallas tried to buy in as a partner but was unable to do so. Instead, he partnered with a large, national distributor to produce the nail files he already knew how to make, which became the basis for DHS Products. Originally located in Ventura, Calif., Dallas moved the company to Utah in 2006 to accommodate the growth and to cut costs.
What has enabled DHS Products to survive the recession is its specialized products, expert customer service, unrivaled product quality and growing international trade. DHS currently exports to Europe, Asia, South Africa, Australia, Canada and Mexico. Dallas says DHS exports in 2009 were 27 percent of the company's sales, a 10 percent increase from the previous year. This adds up to thousands of professional manicurists and hundreds of companies doing business with DHS.
Learning to operate a lean enterprise with minimal waste and a never-ending focus on productivity is necessary to survive in today's global economy, Dallas says. He hopes to let the industry know DHS Products is committed to helping its clients succeed.
