MEMBER PERSPECTIVES
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there.” Solace Spa often receives requests for blow-outs
and, during the summer season, bridal services. Solace’s
nail technician is in the process of receiving her Montana
cosmetology license; once she has it, Smith intends for her
to handle the salon’s hair services as well.
Despite these challenges, Smith has never considered per-
manently shuttering the salon, primarily for two reasons.
First and foremost, the salon can still be an important reve-
nue stream for Solace Spa, especially given its remote loca-
tion—it’s simply more convenient for customers to have
their hair and nails done on-site than it would be for them to
head down from the mountain. This gives the salon a large
potential customer base. Says Smith, “It can also bring in
guests for multiple services. The revenue enhancement on re-
peat guests is a great add-on for a salon, because you tend to
get repeat guests a bit more than [you do] in the spa.”
Second, Smith still views the salon experience as an ef-
fective complement to the spa-goer’s experience, especially
in the age of self-care and holistic wellness. “As a resort desti-
nation, we have a lot of guests who come in and want to
have a full spa day,” Smith comments, “and that means
leaving looking as good on the outside as they feel on the in-
side.” Hair services and nail services, to Smith, are the finish-
ing touches that allow spa-goers to leave the spa completely
pampered and prepared for “a full day, a nice dinner or a
ladies’ night out.” In essence, to be a full-service spa—one
that’s dedicated to the total satisfaction and pampering of
its guests—means that one must offer salon services,
according to Smith.
The Five Percent
The 2019 ISPA U.S. Spa Industry Study found that 95 per-
cent of spas in the U.S. offer massage. Pepper’s Salon and
Spa, located in Puyallup, Washington, is not among them.
The spa offers a variety of services—facials, waxing,
body wraps, body sugaring—but massage was recently
removed from the menu. For Pepper’s, a business that
began as a salon first, the switch away from massage
made sense culturally and financially.
“We lost our massage therapist and just couldn’t find
the right fit for our salon,” says Ashley McCarthy, Pepper’s
director of sales and customer service. “We ended up
bringing on eyelash services because they’re a big thing in
our area.” Just as spas often tailor their treatments to
local heritage, customs and preferences, so too should a
spa’s salon remain flexible in its service offerings. Now,
Pepper’s eyelash services are bringing in 80 percent more
revenue than massage was, according to McCarthy.
If you, like Pepper’s Salon and Spa, are in the five per-
cent of U.S. spas that don’t offer massage—or if you’re
simply looking for how to better integrate your salon with
your spa—McCarthy has a few tips.
Pepper's listened to its market, switching out massage for eyelash services. The move has paid dividends.
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