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http://www.postcrescent.com
Businesses
Work Hard to Pamper
by Monique Balas, Post-Crescent staff
writer
As quickly
as you can say "Rodeo Rose" nail polish,
a bouquet of day spas has been blossoming
around the Fox Valley area in the last
several months.
Despite the presence of some larger,
well-established places that have been
around for years, a mix of self-indulgent
services at new and recently expanded
locales is taking root.
"I think in the Valley that massage
is being more accepted as maintenance
rather than as a luxury," said Lacy
Hardy, owner of the 10-day-old Sunflower
Spa.
With the U.S. day spa industry growing
by 155 percent between 1997 and 2002,
the trend is as much local as it is
nationwide.
"The entire spa industry is exploding,
and spas are becoming more mainstream,
making for a large potential client
base for day spas," said Lynne Walker
McNees, executive director of the Lexington,
Ky.-based International SPA Association.
Hardy is a certified massage therapist
who owned a small massage business in
Colorado before returning to her native
Appleton in October. She operates Sunflower
with partner Lori Kopotic.
Appleton resident Dawn Gerner is glad
she did.
"It's a wonderful little spa," said
Gerner, 35.
Gerner had a chair massage and an "awesome"
reflexology session at Sunflower's grand
opening and came back for more.
"I went in and had the ultimate one-hour
massage, which was heavenly. I highly
recommend it," she said.
Tucked away on the second floor of the
Between the Locks building in Appleton,
Hardy's spa focuses on specialty body
wraps, massage therapy and yoga and
Pilates classes. She also has a reflexologist
and Feng Shui consultant on staff.
Hardy says her 650-square-foot space
allows her to focus on her clients.
"I think the larger spas are losing
their personal touch," she said.
In contrast to Hardy's cozy, sunny rooms,
Healthy Body & Soul Inc. offers a newly
expanded, 3,000-square-foot space on
Longview Drive in Appleton that can
accommodate 96 people a day at full
capacity.
"We're more of an upscale life-shaping
clinic with more of a spa feel," said
owner Jolynn Van Asten, a "life coach"
who has owned the business for a year-and-a-half.
Van Asten's staff provides a holistic
approach to healing and general well-being.
Its staple services include 30-day detoxification
and weight-loss programs, self-esteem
classes and cellulite treatments.
"We really want to help women change
from the inside out, heal themselves,
find out what chemicals they want to
avoid and make better choices," said
Van Asten, a certified life coach.
In Neenah, All Fired Up is spicing up
the town with its own blend of a Southwest/chili
pepper-themed upscale tanning salon.
The theme gives the space its warm colors
and a whimsical feel, while a "Hot Shop"
allows customers to sample the health
benefits of pepper products.
"We wanted to bring an upscale tanning
facility with lower prices," said co-owner
Kellie Gasser, who with the new space
is fulfilling a five-year-long dream.
Customers can luxuriate in one of five
level-two tanning beds or use the salon's
spray-on tanning booth, experiment with
an oxygen bar and get manicures or pedicures.
"On the East Coast and West Coast, this
day spa boom has been out for at least
10 years," Gasser said. Like Hardy,
she said, "The reason I think it's here,
it's not so much a luxury item as it
used to be thought of thought of; it's
more of a necessity now." |
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| Sunflower
Spa, LLC ~
1004 South Olde Oneida Street, suite 2A ~ Appleton, WI 54915
~ Tel:920.739.1235 |
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