When Honore Frumentino wants to unwind from her hectic job as a real estate agent, she doesn’t work out, shop or do lunch. She heads weekly to the Renu Day Spa in Deerfield, near her home and office. There she can be in and out in an hour or two depending on the treatments she receives. “When you work hard, you need to relax and nurture yourself,” she says.
These days Frumentino could have her pick of nearby facilities. The day spa phenomenon has come to Chicago and other cities with a vengeance, as a wave of quick-fix pampering expands its audience.
Day spas, in fact, are said to be the fastest-growing segment of the spa industry, following on the heels of the original “fat farms,” destination spas, hotel/resort spas and cruise-ship spas, according to the International Spa and Fitness Association (ISPA) in Lexington, Ky.
Specific numbers are hard to peg, however. The Day Spa Association in West New York, N.J., puts the number of day spas that meet its criteria at between 350 and 450. The association’s guidelines require a spa’s aestheticians (skin-care specialists) and therapists to be licensed and trained in the services and products they provide, offer a panoply of services, rather than just manicures and facials, and provide treatment in private rooms.
“It’s not a matter of slapping on a wrinkle cream,” says Hannelore R. Leavy, the Day Spa Association’s executive director.
However, Spa Finder magazine puts the number, even conservatively, at 1,600. Part of the discrepancy may be that — in the same way that many lofts would never meet an architect’s strict definition of that type of dwelling — there is no universal government regulation of day spas.
As a result, many new players, from beauty salons to health clubs and even to some physician groups, hang out a shingle and test the (hydrotherapy) waters.
“Many are not (true) day spas,” says Cheryl Tricoci, who with her husband, Mario, operates locations in the Chicago area, plus Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. The couple opened their first day spa 14 years ago, after starting in business 25 years ago with a hair salon.
Whatever the number now in operation, day spas, which first emerged a decade ago, suit today’s harried employee, executive or homemaker too pressed to get away for a week or long weekend or who can’t afford the steep costs of a longer spa stay. Yet, she — and now he — desperately wants a place to relax, be pampered and reduce stress on a regular basis.
Consumers appear to be the ultimate winners in this crowding field, Leavy says. Because spa owners know that the average customer spends $200 per visit on treatments and products, they woo their clients.
And spas’ bait these days seems exhausting: new treatments for the clients’ bodies and minds such as “golden spoons,” a facial that uses 23-karat “gold” hot and cold “spoons” to stimulate circulation (see page 26 for more on new treatments); better trained technicians; more competitive prices; more time-saving packages to get customers in and out fast while focusing on specific needs; greater availability (seven days a week) and longer hours (at dawn and dusk); more soothing surroundings; light lunches and healthy snacks; and services not formerly associated with day spas, such as mainstream and holistic medical practices.
Tiffani Kim Institute, which opened a year ago on West Superior Street, has several physicians on staff and others who serve as consultants, including a gynecologist, plastic surgeon, vascular surgeon, sleep disorder expert and psychiatrist. The spa also offers acupuncture, crystal therapy and hormonal balancing.
But whether all the spa-game players will — or should — survive fuels a debate.
“I think we’ll see an eventual shakedown in the same way not all yogurt stores and coffee bars make it,” said Gary Milner, director of development for Canyon Ranch, which operates destination spas in Tucson, Ariz., and Lenox, Mass.
The company entered the day spa market when it opened its 65,000-square-foot SpaClub in Las Vegas last June as an urban prototype. Its goal: to spread its message about the value of healthy living to those who can’t get to its ranches.
The company is scouting for the right site in Chicago, its third strongest market for guests, after New York and Los Angeles. “We’ve been offered numerous locations, but haven’t yet found an `A’ one that is prestigious and close to shopping and restaurants,” says Milner.
Even before a Canyon SpaClub debuts here, Chicago has seen at least one major player close just eight months after it opened. The Greenhouse Day Spa could not generate enough traffic to justify its rent on Chestnut Street, said Gerald Katzoff, an attorney who bought the famed Greenhouse in Arlington, Tex., in 1988, 23 years after its founding. “As a spa doing massages and facials, we couldn’t afford the high-rent district,” he said.
Katzoff managed the Chicago site, along with 10 others, all of which originally housed a laser hair-removal business and were later converted to day spas. In addition to shuttering the Chicago spa, he closed two in Florida because of their seasonality. Yet, he plans to open a day spa next April on Manhattan’s pricey 57th Street, between Park and Lexington Avenues, and is looking at sites in Boston, Philadelphia and Orlando and in the Bahamas.
In the meantime, the new Chicago lineup still includes newcomers such as year-old Kiva at 196 E. Pearson St., owned by Michelle Diletto and Jan Melk, who plan to open others, and revamped standard-bearers such as Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon & Spa, which reopened in February 1998 with a redesign by chichi designer Clodagh at 919 N. Michigan Ave. Carla Cooley, general manager, describes the new Arden as “not your grandmother’s. We offer more than classic treatments — desert stone massages (ancient Native American warm-stone therapy combined with Swedish massage techniques) and slimming marine wraps (full-body wraps that utilize amino acids, vitamins and a special blend of seaweed).”
Many others are also upbeat about the prospect for day spa growth in Chicago. “Consumers are driving demand and that’s why there’s been an explosion. It accommodates their busy lifestyles,” says Lynne Walker, executive director of ISPA.
Barbara Salomone, a founder of the Conservatory of Esthetics and Bioelements in Des Plaines, which trains aestheticians in spa and skin-care treatments, also believes there is room for more day spas.
But she also thinks those that will fare best are the ones that started small in Chicago and expanded their services to meet the needs of existing clientele, as the Tricocis did.
“Chicagoans can be very loyal to their hairdressers and spas; it’s a relationship city,” she says. “Those already operating have a staff. It’s a tight labor market (in which) to attract licensed people.”
Salomone and others also think that the smartest spa operators carve out a special niche. Some differentiate themselves by courting male clients, a slowly expanding part of the business. Men constitute about 17 percent of Renu’s business now.
Other spas focus on Far Eastern treatments that may have a spiritual edge. Still others, in the interest of developing loyalty, cater to teenage clients. Kiva features a cafe serving healthy food. And some zero in on the lucrative corporate market that offers a potential for volume. Elizabeth Arden and Renu have gone after that business with corporate parties and gift certificates. “(These services have) replaced cards and flowers as a thank-you,” says Susan Wilson, managing editor of Spa magazine.
Down the road, spas in Chicago may even bring multiple services to clients’ homes or offices. On the West Coast, a few already take mobile spa vans to customers, says Stephanie Matolyak, director of new business development for The Spa Finder Co. Elaine Stillerman, a New York-based pregnancy massage specialist, says in-chair massage at corporate offices has become popular. “Each employee gets 10 to 12 minutes — with their clothes on,” she says.
Better government regulation might halt the spa surge. As it is, regulations vary state to state. Specific treatments such as massage may require licensing rather than a spa having to meet certain standards. It’s critical, therefore, for consumers to be diligent about seeking proof of a practitioner’s qualifications.
“They need to ask where someone received training, if they’re certified, what products they use and what’s in the products,” Walker advises.
AAAHHHH, SPA STATS
40% of men who get spa treatments are accompanied by their spouses***
47% of spagoers are between ages 34 and 52*
35% of the U.S. population will visit a spa next year*
39% of consumers who went to spas last year were first timers*
32% of all spagoers have an annual income between $45,000 and $74,999*
85% of attendees are female*
A typical tip to a clinician is 10 to 15 percent of the cost of the treatment, or $10 to $15 for a one-hour service**
*According to the International Spa and Fitness Association (ISPA)
**According to The Day Spa Association
***According to The Spa Finder Co.
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Spas featured in this section: Chicago: Bailey Hughes Aveda Concept Salon, 1135 N. State St., 312-915-0010; Elizabeth Arden Red Door Salon & Spa, 919 N. Michigan Ave., 312-988-9191; Kiva, 196 E. Pearson St., 312-840-8120; Mario Tricoci Hair Salons & Day Spas have 15 day spas in the metropolitan area, call 800-874-2624 for locations; Michael Anthony’s Hair Salon & Day Spa, 1001 W. North Ave., 312-649-7725; Paradise Sauna, 2910 W. Montrose Ave., 773-588-3304; Parlor, 210 W. Kinzie St., 312-755-9925; Spa Blue, 2915 N. Sheffield, 773-525-2583; Tiffani Kim Institute, 310 W. Superior St., 312-943-8777; Visionaries, 357 W. Chicago Ave., 312-337-4700. Suburbs: Day Escape, 150 E. Ogden Ave., Westmont, 630-455-0660; Everything’s Relative Salon and Day Spa, 3228 W. 95th St., Evergreen Park, 708-423-2230; Natalie Alexander Salon and Day Spa, 2521 Waukegan Rd., Bannockburn, 847-948-5025; Renu Day Spa, 617 Central, Deerfield, 847-940-9727; Spa de LaCour, 2211 Waukegan Rd., Bannockburn, 847-236-1907.
