Business’s past unnerves owners

For a year after Jeff Grossman bought a west Houston nail salon hoping to turn it into a high-end day spa, he watched a steady parade of men come in the front door.

But the men weren’t seeking manicures or pedicures. They were asking for sexual f avors.

Grossman filed suit this week against the previous owner, accusing the prior enterprise of being an illegal massage parlor — a business that tainted the storefront and made it impossible to conduct le- gitimate commerce.

Jeff Grossman and his wife are suing Oanh Kim Vu for breach of contract, saying she misrepresented material facts when she sold the business in 2011.

The couple, who had owned and operated other nail salons, bought the Fifth Avenue Day Spa & Retreat, a storefront between a Kroger and a Hallmark store in a shopping center at 1560 Eldridge. They renamed it Miracle Retreat Spa and sank $35,000 into renovations.

“Much to plaintiff ’s surprise, however, there were

somewhat frequent requests by male clients for oral sex, among other indecent propositions,” according to the lawsuit filed in a Harris County court.

Almost a year after they bought it and lost about $20,000, Grossman was told by a neighboring business that the nail salon had been raided by police, according to his lawsuit.

In April 2011, the same month that they began negotiating the sale, Vu had pleaded guilty to operating a massage parlor without a license. She had been arrested at the business six months earlier during an inspection.

Grossman’s attorney said the frequent visits from different men point to more than massage.

“It was never a massage parlor,” said Brooks Harrison. “It was a nail service center. They do your nails, they do your toes and go on. Men aren’t the biggest consumers when it comes to doing nails and toes.”

After the business flopped, Grossman and his wife sold it in 2012. When the next owner failed to make payments to Vu, she sent Grossman a letter demanding for the remainder of the money. Instead of paying her, Grossman is suing her for $125,000.

“She kind of tainted the business for the 10 years that the lease runs,” said Harrison.

Vu’s attorney, Troy Tindal, declined to comment.