Shopping
Desire for pampering on the run leads to rise of day spas
By Sonya Padgett
Review-Journal
Imagine it's a typical day: You've had to deal with traffic, demanding bosses, endless errands.
You haven't had a moment to yourself all day, so when you get home in the evening, you're ready to kick back, relax. But you can't because there's dinner to cook and children to bathe and put to bed.
Not for the first time, you think how wonderful it would be to run away to a place where someone will indulge you for a change. But getting away on a whim is something only the rich can afford, so what's a workaday woman (or man) to do? Well, you could be like thousands of other locals, who escape for short periods of time at one of the many day spas popping up around the valley.
A relative newcomer to the Las Vegas landscape -- they weren't heard of before the early 1990s -- day spas offer services as close as the nearest strip mall that at one time were available only at posh destination spas in out-of-the-way places.
"I've seen it grow so much over the past decade," said local day-spa owner Debbie Hooker. "When I first moved here in 1986 there weren't any day spas outside of casinos."
Hooker, who has been in the salon business for 17 years, opened her first day spa, Amethyst Salon and Wellness Spa, 8871 W. Sahara Ave., almost two years ago because the demand for spa services was growing.
"I wanted everything under one roof -- hair, nails, facials, wraps, massages -- so that people could take care of everything in one stop," she said.
Spa owners such as Hooker and Euphoria Day Spa co-owner Joe Lamarca started out in the salon business but added spa services -- massages and facials mostly -- as customers began asking for them.
Immediately after Lamarca and his partners opened their first Euphoria salon in 1994, customers demanded spa services, he said. Gradually, management added facials, stress wraps and massages to their list of services. Still, customers wanted more, so in 1996, Lamarca said his company opened a day spa separate from a salon.
"I said we can't do this in a salon, it's too noisy," Lamarca recalled, explaining the motive behind adding a full-service spa onto a salon. "Salons are not the most conducive place to give massage or relax."
So they created a place with separate check-in desks, waiting rooms and lockers, where customers can escape for an hour or up to an entire day. They can create the day's agenda, choosing from a variety of services including Swedish massage, Vichy showers, facials, body wraps and others. The most commonly requested service, after a massage, is a hydrating facial, Lamarca said.
Because customers don't stay overnight, they can enjoy these services at a fraction of the cost of a destination spa, Lamarca said. A full package at Euphoria -- including a massage, facial, pedicure and manicure -- costs about $200. That same amount would buy only one or two of the same services at a destination spa.
Even though the prices are more affordable than those charged at a destination spa, the services are more of a luxury than a necessity, Lamarca said. Many customers choose to buy gift certificates to give as unusual gifts.
"It is a luxury but we're competitively priced. It's for people who want to relax or rejuvenate but don't want to leave town," Lamarca said. "It's an escape without actually leaving."
Day spas have become so popular that Lamarca recently opened a third full-service Euphoria day spa.
Beauty salons around the valley also have begun adding one or two services, hoping to attract customers with the offer of more than just a haircut or manicure, Lamarca said.
"It is a trend right now but I don't think it's one that will go away anytime soon," Hooker said.
Shannon Schilling, manager of Beauty World Salon and Day Spa, 9310 S. Eastern Ave., agreed.
"A lot of it is the convenience of doing these services in one location," Schilling said. "Everything I've seen indicates this type of business will continue to grow."
