NZ-based duo open Nadi salon, barber shop

AFiji-born Auckland based couple has given back to the community by investing in a state of the art hair salon set up at Nadi town.

The Hero Barber and Nail shop, along Nadi’s Main Street, cost $50,000 where 12 people are employed on a full-time basis.

General manager, Saiyad Shameem said the barber shop and salons for women were under the same roof.

He said his daughter Shanaya and son-in-law Shazil Mohammed, who are based in Auckland, New Zealand, assisted in the set-up of the business.

“I thank them to choosing Fiji as a destination to invest,” he said.

“This is one way of giving back to the community of their birth to sort off backing Fijian with the job after it was lost since the pandemic last year.

Helping hand

“We are very proud of this setup as a lot are struggling to put food on their tables.” Mr Shameem ran a handicraft business in town, Youth Village Handicraft for more than 20 years until it was forced to shutdown due to the pandemic.

Nadi’s special administrators chairman Adish Naidu said, his office has noticed that a lot of businesses are now opening in the township of Nadi despite the pandemic.

He said these business-minded people are in the right direction and do need a pat on their backs.

“COVID-19 pandemic will not go away easily and we have noticed that businesses are opening up which we do encourage,” he said.

“Businesses are reinventing and it is good for the Fijian economy, for themselves, and of course for Nadi as a whole.”