Expanded treatment options are changing the face of spas.
Feeling tired, stressed, in need of some pampering? No problem. The North Bay is full of businesses that can help you ease your cares away. And in today’s one-stop shopping world, you can massage out the gremlins, get a good workout and sit down for a bit of Botox all at the same location. Part of a growing national trend, many Bay Area gyms have extended their brands to include spa treatments—and traditional spas are expanding their services as well to include nutritionists, medical doctors or both.
According to a recent report by the International Spa Association (ISA), consumer concerns with healthy aging are motivating spas to go beyond the traditional tub, rub and mud services of the past. Likewise, the changing demographics of gym memberships are bringing about health, wellness and fitness programs that go well beyond weight management and weight lifting.
The single most important driving force behind these transformations? Two little high-economic-impact words: baby boomers. A 2005 study by the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association found that the biggest industry change over the past 15 years has been a 314 percent increase in health club members aged 55 and older.
As the line between gyms, spas and even medical offices becomes as thinly sliced as the lemon in your post-workout water, it takes an educated consumer to sort through the options…and a savvy businessperson to determine what magical mix of products and services will ring true with customers.
Beyond the gym
As it turns out, the idea of broadening the gym concept beyond a place to work out with weights isn’t all that new. In 1934, former Mr. America Walt Baptiste recognized there was more to fitness than was currently being offered in the San Francisco gyms of his day. Realizing the power of the mind/body connection, Baptiste was one of the first to create fitness studios that brought together yoga, weight training and even juice bars—cutting-edge workout wisdom for the early 20th century.
Today, his daughter Sherri Baptiste continues the tradition. Baptiste, author of Yoga With Weights for Dummies (John Wiley & Sons, 2006), is a prominent Bay Area fitness teacher, offering classes at Gold’s Gym, Bay Club Marin, the Marin Jewish Community Center, Nautilus and Westerbeck Ranch, among others. She believes the most successful gyms are those that have a wider perspective when it comes to enhancing members’ overall well-being.
“Fitness isn’t just about picking up weights or taking an aerobics class,” says Baptiste. “All the best new gyms today are being developed with performance enhancing equipment in the weight rooms as well as yoga studios, Pilates rooms, mind/body programs, spas and child care facilities.”
Within the past year, Baptiste has seen significantly increased demand for her services from gyms and, in response, recently began offering Yoga with Weights classes at Gold’s Gym and Bay Club Marin in Corte Madera (the latter is one of the largest health clubs in Marin and a leader in the field of gym/spa partnering).
Megan Devlin, general manager of Bay Club Marin, says the club’s Sanctuary Spa was born out of the membership’s desire. “We started with a massage room, which then led to nail care and, finally, facials,” says Devlin. The spa, which is also open to non-members, gets 39 percent of its clients from foot traffic in the Corte Madera Mall where the Bay Club is located. To stay on the leading edge, the spa has partnered with board-certified vascular surgeon Dr. Robert Swanson to open NewSkin Clinic. The facility, which is also open to the public, nevertheless gets 90 percent of its business from the Bay Club membership. “We’ve developed a loyal group of patients who come back time and again for a variety of treatments,” says Swanson.
NewSkin client Chris Michaels made a deal with her husband that, after their second child, she was going to treat herself—not to a week away at a seaside spa or a vacation in Hawaii, but to finally taking care of the spider veins on her legs that had bothered her for years. “I work out at the Bay Club,” says Michaels, “and I heard from other members about Dr. Swanson and the NewSkin Clinic.”
Michaels, who used to sell medical equipment to hospitals, considers herself a sophisticated consumer of medical services. She was impressed with the fact that Swanson was a vascular surgeon and had a great bedside manner as well. “I found him personable, easy to talk to and knowledgeable.”
Michaels was so comfortable with the NewSkin Clinic and happy with the results, she decided to try a light-based technique to remove some age spots on her face, neck and hands. She says the treatments, which involved a minor amount of pain and inconvenience, were worth it. “You look like you’re a bit sunburned for a few days. But after two weeks, it looks great. Since the procedure, I’ve gotten a lot of compliments on how good my skin looks.”
Swanson believes one reason for the NewSkin Clinic’s success is the personalized attention patients like Michaels receive.
“Unlike a medical office, where these types of procedures are only a part of a practice, this is all I do,” says Swanson. “So I have time to spend with my patients. My measure of success is how happy they are with the whole experience, not just the results.” Swanson explains that even a procedure as simple as Botox injections can benefit from administration by a physician who isn’t pressured to see 60 patients a day. “Many Botox injections are given by cookbook method—a boilerplate plan of four units here, four units there,” says Swanson. “I treat the individual patient’s anatomy, which takes more time but produces better results.” Swanson also asks patients to come back for a two-week follow-up to see if any adjustments are needed.
It’s not just the big gyms that have caught on to the power of brand extension; smaller fitness clubs are utilizing the concept to create a unique place for themselves in the market as well.
Jeannie Hutton opened her women-only club, Symmetry Fitness Studios, in the Napa Valley in the summer of 2006. “I have a vision to be a wellness center,” says Hutton. “What we’re offering is beyond weights and cardio. Our goal is to help our members age gracefully.”
Hutton goes on to explain that, while the trend in the 1980s and ’90s was high-impact aerobics and step workouts, the toll those exercise routines took on the body has made them unpopular with today’s aging gym population.
“Most of my clients are in their 40s and 50s and very active. Their focus is on living a healthy lifestyle, which includes preventive and strengthening exercises, so we offer programs that are easy on the joints such as yoga and Pilates.” Hutton’s strategy for success isn’t limited to exercise classes tailored to aging baby boomers. She’s also put a strong emphasis on education, for example, by offering ongoing nutrition programs taught by a registered dietician. Recent classes have covered such topics as fad-free nutrition, understanding portion size and the food pyramid guidelines.
Hutton believes the personal touch she offers, when combined with the educational element, gives her a competitive advantage in the crowded field of fitness in Napa. “Most gyms allot one square foot per member. Mine is a boutique gym; we offer 10 square feet per member, and I know everyone’s name who walks through the door.”
Med-Spas
The recent ISA 2007 trend report highlighted medical spas—spas that combine traditional aesthetic treatments (such as facials) with additional treatments by medically trained estheticians—as one of the fastest-growing segments in the industry. Fueled by consumers’ desires for one-stop shopping, medical spas have seen a 69 percent average annual growth rate between 2003-2005. The most popular treatments? Chemical peels, microdermabrasion and natural weight loss services such as body wraps.
Maddy Dychtwald, author of Cycles: How We Will Live, Work and Buy, believes the rise in popularity of med-spas is being driven by the baby boomers’ desire to look and feel good as they age—in the least invasive way possible. “It’s much easier and less stressful to get some lunchtime Botox than it is to get a facelift,” says Dychtwald, “and it’s also more socially acceptable.” Dychtwald is also the co-founder (along with husband, gerontologist Ken Dychtwald) of Age Wave, which has been studying baby boomers and their lifestyle trends for the past 20 years. It’s her observation that boomers are attracted to options that let them indulge their desire to retain youthfulness in the second half of life, but that don’t require plastic surgery.
Chocolat’ MedSpa in Sonoma is the perfect example of this emerging new breed of spas. “A regular spa is somewhere you go to get facials, massages and feel-good cosmetics,” says Nancie Fox, a registered nurse and co-owner, along with Dr. Carolyn Matzinger, of Chocolat’ MedSpa (so-named because its owners wanted a pleasant, positive association in the minds of its clients). “At a medical spa, you have medical cosmetic interventions performed by physicians and nurses.” Fox explains that all the skin care products used at her spa are prescriptive level and require the patient to have an intake assessment by either a physician or a nurse. Once medical personnel have determined an appropriate course of action, a licensed esthetician can then do some of the treatments, such as chemical peels.
Like Dychtwald, Fox believes Chocolat’ MedSpa is benefiting from the baby boomers’ desire to avail themselves of noninvasive treatments. “Instead of going under the knife, our clients are getting a nonsurgical facelift using a combination of products such as Botox to relax the expressive muscles of the forehead and injectable fillers such as Restylane, Juvederm or Captique to fill resistant facial lines,” says Fox. “We use light treatments to tighten and tone as well.”
Fox is quick to point out that Chocolat’ MedSpa doesn’t offer traditional massage or light facials—nor are they a replacement for the dermatologist’s office. “We don’t offer medical treatments here,” she says. “We don’t look at moles and make determinations; we send people to a medical practice for that.”
And while it might be less expensive than surgery, a med-spa treatment is still a lot more costly than your average, run-of-the-mill facial. With prices ranging from $300 per Botox or filler injection to $800 for a photo facial (a treatment that uses intense pulsed light to combat the effects of aging and damaged skin) or skin resurfacing, high expectations come with the territory. For this reason, Fox suggests clients always do the following:
• Ask if the person performing the treatment is licensed in the state of California;
• Inquire if the treatment requires a registered nurse or medical doctor; and
• Ask questions about the technology being used. How current is it?
Finally, Fox suggests clients always have a consultation before embarking on a treatment and never make a snap judgment to have a procedure done on the spot.
Small is still beautiful
When licensed esthetician, massage therapist and makeup artist Jon Paul returned from working in Europe as a makeup artist for Chanel, he decided it was time to open his own facial practice. Today his small, intimate salon, Jon Paul International, resides in an upstairs, brightly lit and quiet office in downtown Mill Valley. He offers neither fancy facials nor laser hair removal—he doesn’t even have a receptionist—but his schedule is booked months in advance by a roster of loyal clients. He thinks the secret to his one-man-shop’s success is good, old-fashioned relaxation.
“When I got back from Europe, I started reading all the trade magazines and quickly realized that there was a gap in the market that I could fill by combining massage with facials,” says Paul. “At some point during most facials, the practitioner puts a liquid mask on you and leaves the room while the product dries. I never leave my clients during the facial. Instead, while the mask is drying, I give them an extended neck, shoulder and foot massage.”
The feedback Paul gets from his clients is that these extended massage facials (which last 70 minutes versus the usual 50) provide them with a deep, relaxing timeout where they can really let go. “Most of my clients are busy professionals between 45 and 60 years old. Many of them come in once a month for a massage as a reward for how hard they work.”
Linda Curtis, an executive coach, has been a client for several years and says she never gets a facial from anyone else. “I have a great deal of trust in Paul,” says Curtis. “Every piece of advice he’s ever given me about skin care or makeup has worked.”
In addition, Curtis feels the time she spends with Paul goes beyond just getting a facial. “He provides an experience of relaxation. It’s a big treat for me to go and see him.”
Another trend highlighted by the ISA’s recent report is that baby boomers view spa visits as necessary and an entitlement, rather than as a treat or something reserved only for special occasions. The most common reasons given for visiting spas include relieving or reducing stress, soothing sore joints and muscles, feeling better about oneself and increasing mental or emotional health.
There’s no doubt the baby boomers have changed—and will continue to change—the face of spas and the nature of gyms. As Dychtwald puts it, “Baby boomers are saying ‘yes’ to a healthy life physically, mentally and spiritually.” Over the next few years, the most successful gyms, spas and individual wellness practitioners will answer “yes” back by providing services and products to help the boomers negotiate their way thorough aging with as much health and grace as possible. After all, beauty really is only skin deep.
