Run, Don’t Walk, to Spa Week

“Everyone we know leads some kind of stressful life,” said C&R Media principal Cheryl Reid, “so we decided we wanted to make a difference and make spas affordable.”The result is Spa Week, a citywide event that Ms. Reid’s public relations firm is inaugurating next Monday in cooperation withSpa-Addicts.com, an online directory and marketing tool for spas. Running through Sunday, October 24, the promotional campaign involves more than 30 spas willing to help the overworked and the underpaid get access to discounted body therapies and beauty treatments – at least temporarily. Similar to New York’s popular “Restaurant Week,” Spa Week allows customers to book a treatment at any participating spa for $50 (tax and tip not included). At many New York spas, that’s a savings of more than 50%.Ms. Reid’s business partner Christina Castro said that the endeavor has two purposes: “To allow people who were intimidated to go for the first time and, for regulars, to diversify their treatments and try out different spas.”As part of the enterprise, every member spa – from D’mai Urban Spa in Brooklyn’s Park Slope to the Ettia Holistic Day Spa on Manhattan’s Upper West Side – is offering two to four treatments at a uniformly reduced price. The options include airbrush tans, body wraps, cellulite reduction procedures, deep muscle massages, reflexology packages and, at nearly every location, a signature facial.The response has been emphatically favorable.“Many spas said they had over 500 calls a day,” said Mary De Roker, owner ofSpa-Addicts.com. Those numbers were similarly reflected in the increase of visitors to her Web site (on which all the offers are posted). Whereas a typical month logged 215,000 users, September saw those numbers jump to 687,000.“Within two or three days, we’d sold out,” said Finesse Day Spa’s manager Javier Lodico. Eden Day Spa and the Olive Leaf reported similarly rapid turnover. Instead of turning customers away, however, many spas – Finesse among them – have opted to extend the specials beyond the pre-established end date.At Allure, a Midtown spa that is one of only two participants to offer haircuts as well as facials and pedicures, head esthetician Ela Molczan added a second week because she was generating so many appointments from new clients.And those new customers aren’t simply shy locals overcoming their fears or regular spa-goers in search of fresh experiences.Debbie Townes, owner of the HomeSpa in Cobble Hill, said with disbelief, “I got a call from Dallas from a woman who said, ‘I happen to be in town with my friends that week and we want to come to your spa.'”“Spas have called us because it’s spreading like wild fire,” said Ms. Reid of the fairly instantaneous reaction, which has allowed her to increase the initial 25 participants to the current total of 33 without even trying.Furthermore, she added, “We’re getting calls from California asking when we’re going to take the show on the road.”The answer is 2005. “This is not a one-time event,” Ms. Castro emphasized. “It will grow on a national level.”To that end, Ms. Castro, Ms. De Roker, and Ms. Reid are already in the process of instituting a bicoastal version of Spa Week. By spring of next year, the three hope to have established Spa Week in Los Angeles, San Diego, and a handful of cities on the East Coast. Moreover, Spa Week will shift to a biannual schedule in 2005, once in the fall and once in the spring.“The spa industry was ripe for something like this,” said Ms. Reid.Looking back at the rapid growth of Spa Week to date, Ms. Reid said, “This has become larger than life. We knew it was a good idea, but we didn’t know it was this good.”Those who miss out on this season’s Spa Week, because of scheduling conflicts or an inability to score an appointment, take heart. Spa-Addicts.com, which is free to the public, promotes deals year-round, and even awards monthly prizes to its members. In October, for instance, one lucky winner will get a $270 spa package at the River Spa in Westchester. For the rest of us, there’s always next month and, more importantly, next year.

Run, Don’t Walk, to Spa Week

Run, Don’t Walk, to Spa Week

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