Looking and Feeling like a Million
Day Spas Thrive Even in a Soft Economy
By JOSEPH BEDNAR
Business West Magazine

There's no doubt that people that use day spas want to look good. But they say they're feeling better; too - and many in the mainstream health establishment agree. That trend, along with an increasing desire among many Americans to find relaxation close to home, bodes well for the future of this growing service industry.

When Lenore Brooks and Patricia Butterfield launched their day spa, Brooks & Butterfield, in Northampton in August of 2001, little did they know that two weeks later, Americans stunned by terrorism would put the brakes on all kinds of frivolous spending for awhile.

They didn't know what to expect and feared their business would follow the air-travel industry in grinding to a total halt. But it didn't.

Instead, the spa has been gaining more customers since its inception, even as the economy has faltered. And Butterfield has an idea why.

"We opened two weeks before 9/11, and, if anything, with all the turmoil that exists in the world today, people tend to feel like they need a place to do-stress, relax, and get away from all the craziness we're living with nowadays," she said. Yet, if getting away from it all was the only reason for the existence of such spas, it wouldn't be enough, she added. Rather, people are more health-conscious than ever, and they're increasingly viewing treatments such as massages, facial care, and skin wraps as intrinsically related to their health, not just a feel-good experience.

This month, Business West looks into some of the trends in day spas - and why their services are considered more than just luxury items.

Facing the Facts
Richard Drummond, spa director of Ochoa Day Spa, which has locations in South Hadley and East Longmeadow, stresses both health and body image in encouraging customers to take advantage of a variety of difference services. In his mind, there's not only something for everyone at a spa, but several things.

"There's massage therapy, some alternative body treatments, and body masks and mud wraps, which are good for athletes with muscic fatigue," he said. "Those services complement the massage services we offer, for clients who want to shake it up or do something different than, or in addition to, massage. We have a pretty wide spectrum of clients, and we've seen an increasing trend of adding on to the services they already enjoy."

Some of those services might seem surprising, such as insternity massage. "That's a growing trend," Drummond said. "It's for someone who's carrying a child and dealing with the different changes that happen in the body, the muscle aches and body aches. One response we've heard from clients is that regular visits for prenatal massage helps case the delivery."

In addition, the rising popularity of manicures and pedicures might have something to do with an emphasis on natural good looks. "For years, people were putting acrylic nails on, but in magazines and the fashion industry, people are going back to a more natural look."

But good looks are only part of the picture. When it comes to increasing business at day spas, the growing acceptance of alternative treatments by medical professionals - and by health insurers - can't be overstated, Drummond said.

"We're starting to see more people in their 30s and 40s who are coming to realize there are other ways to combat everyday aches and pains other than taking a pill," he said, adding that, just as chiropractors have earned greater mainstream acceptance in recent years, so have massage therapists.

"People in general are far more aware of health concerns, such as diet, skin care, and all kinds of other things," Butterfield said. "They're realizing they need to take better care of themselves."

Although day spas can be seen as a luxury item, particularly the services intended purely for esthetic results, the slowed economy of the past few years has not had the negative impact on these businesses that some might have expected. The reasons, interestingly, circle back to the economy and related factors.

"Despite the tough economic times we're all facing, people still want to gain the benefits of these services, to be able to go enjoy the spa experience and the ambiences that comes from that," Butterfield said. It doesn't hurt, she added, that her day spa's prices are less expensive than destination spas such as Canyon Ranch in Lee.

Drummond noted that while tourism to air-travel destinations might still be down in the post-9/11 world, people still need relaxation spots, and for many, day spas fill the bill.

"People are becoming more in tune with their own lifestyles, and I think there's a trend in the way people are spending their money," he said. "Our travel industry can tell you that people are staying close to home, and they want to find relaxation and pampering. We go beyond that, but we're glad to pamper, too."

More Than Beauty School
One residual effect of the growth in esthetic treatments - or perhaps a cause - is the increasing number of health and beauty educational programs on the landscape, Drummond said.

"You used to have to go to Boston," he said, "but now they're as close as Northampton, and that's helped because there are more employees available."

He spoke specifically of Chameleons School of Esthetics, which is owned by Brooks and Butterfield. They had operated a hairdressing school under the Chameleons name for years before they launched the esthetics arm in 1999.

"There were a lot of requests for it," said Carol Marnelakis, director of Admissions. "The industry was growing and there wasn't another aesthetics school in Western Massachusetts., so they finally decided to put something together."

The 400-hour basic esthetic program at Chameleons, covering skin care, make-up, facials, specialty masks and other components, prepares students for state certification. Meanwhile, a subsequent 400-hour advanced program introduces services to treat acne, psoriasis, and other skin conditions, as well as moving into advanced therapies such as body wraps, body scrubs and herbology.

"Another reason why there's so much growth in this field is that a lot of services that had traditionally been offered only in a plastic surgeon's or dermatologist's office, like microdermabrasion and chemical peels, have slipped over into the menus of many days spas," Marnelakis added.

Running the school certainly doesn't hurt Brooks & Butterfield as a business. "We can pick the cream of the crop of graduating students for the spa," Butterfield said. "So that has been a wonderful source for us. Too often, spas have a hard time finding top-notch personnel."

The pool of students wouldn't exist, of course, if the popularity of spa treatments wasn't on the rise. "There have been several shifts in our culture," Marnelakis said. "For one thing, the men's market has opened up dramatically. Men are more open to these services - they start with massage therapy, and once they got in there, they are open to other spa services, such as skin care and nail care

.

"Many young men in the workplace, under 35, have grown up on GQ and other fashion magazines," she added. "So it's OK for many of them to take pride in their appearance and well-being."

And if spa services are crossing gender lines, they're also spanning the seasons, unlike years ago, when skin care was associated with summertime makeovers.

"We try to take the position that all of our services should not be seasonally geared," Butterfield said. "People need to be taking care of their skin at all times of the year."

That's a Wrap
In many ways, technological advances are bringing down the cost of improving beauty and well-being, especially for Baby Boomers who grew up thinking plastic surgery was the best way to a younger, healthier image, Marnelakis said. People over 50 are finding alternatives to plastic surgery in skin-care services, which can give you a temporary, non-aggressive improvement without surgery," she said. "And with the development of Botox and collagen in the plastics industry, the average person is finding it much more affordable to get the same effect as surgery - it's just not as permanent, that's all."

Like Drummond, Butterfield stresses an entire regimen of services for customers, because "you can't expect major changes with one treatments." However, in her view, no matter what the gal - better health or better looks - a day spa should stress relaxation in everything, becoming as much a destination as a means to an end.

"People need relief from stress and strain," she said. "We're providing people with products to maximize their results, but they also want to relax."

In a world in which the turmoil hasn't subsided in the past couple of years, that's a selling point worth talking about.