Economic worries mean fewer spa visits

Today's economic downturn is causing spa owners in the Valley to sweat as they watch their bottom lines sag.

"When the real estate market began dropping, people stopped spending money on themselves," said East Valley spa market analyst and Mesa author Christina Jordan. "Spas in the Valley, especially the day spas, are losing customers and income."

Day spas is the general term for less costly, quicker-service spas, usually located in malls. Among the fastest-growing segment in the industry, they are mostly smaller facilities, Jordan said.There are an estimated 500 day spas in Arizona, mostly in the Valley.

Other spas include resort spas, located in moderate to posh hotels and resorts, and med spas, a combination of a day spa that also offers medical treatment supervised or directly provided by certified medical physicians. There are more than 200 resort spas in Arizona, with most of them in the Valley, Jordan said.

"Resort spas are losing clients, too, but they have more financial support and better marketing to stay afloat, while the day spas are being hit the hardest by the economy," said Jordan. "The smaller day spas generally don't have enough capital to handle this downturn."

Day spas began expanding in Arizona and the Valley about 15 years ago and - until the recent economic decline - had been doing well.

"The growth is the result of the baby boomers, both men and women, who are going to day spas for beauty and body treatments," Jordan said. "There is also an increasing number of young people who are attending and graduating from aesthetic and cosmetology schools in the Valley and throughout the state. Thus more spas."

"But while the spa industry is growing in size, it's not growing in income."

Jordan, who recently wrote a book about spas in Arizona and the Southwest, "Premier Spas of the Southwest - A Collection of the Finest Spas," meets regularly with spa directors in the Valley to discuss how to deal with the declining market and develop promotional plans aimed at increasing their businesses.

Lisa Allen, co-owner of Blush Med Spa in Gilbert, said her spa has steadily been losing clients since December. "We opened in November with a lot of customers, but then it started slowing down," said Allen, who describes her spa as a combination day and med spa."Today, we're trying to get them back by offering special treatments at lower costs."

Her spa, as well as others in the Valley, are attempting to lure customers back to their massage tables, cosmetology chairs and meditation rooms with reduced rates and special offers.

Spas in the United States

* There were an estimated 13,757 spas in the United States in August 2006, up from 10,128 in April 2004. This includes 3,139 spas in Arizona, California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico that earned a combined $2.7 billion annually.

* The spa industry generated $9.7 billion in 2005, up from $7 million in 2003.

* There were 10,988 day spas in 2006, about 80 percent of the total in the United States that earned $6.7 billion in revenue annually; 1,218 resort spas earning $2 billion and 915 med spas taking in $469 million.

* A total 267,400 employees worked in the spa industry, including 124,500 full-time, 101,300 part-time and 41,600 contract workers.

* Arizona is the busiest spa state followed by California and Nevada and is, appropriately, called “The Spa State.”

Source: International Spa Association’s 2006 Spa Industry Study