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With the press of a button, Uptown hairstylist Kristen Schroeder disposes of the pain in her lower back after standing up all day and cutting customers' hair.I come here after work, lay face down on a machine, a rubber sheet goes over me and fingers press hard on me from head to toe, Schroeder said. It's my sanctuary of stress relief.Planet Beach, a tanning salon corporation headquartered in Marrero, had already added spa treatments to its tanning services even before Katrina to become the Planet Beach Tanning Spa.That roll of the dice turned out to be good for us, said CEO Stephen Smith. It's a completely relaxing environment that can't be found in traditional day spas. We want to ensure that our clients not only look great but feel great as well.With 300 franchise salons, Planet Beach drew in $21 million in 2005 revenue, a 25.7 percent jump from $16.7 million in 2004. The company projects $30 million in 2006 revenue.Expansion is aggressively planned. Smith said the goal is to reach 450 franchises by January 2007 and 1,000 by 2008.We have steadily grown in franchises and revenue every year and, with this new concept, I don't see any reason why our progress will slow down, Smith said. We have been able to appeal to a more diverse client base and larger demographic.Planet Beach was relatively untouched by Katrina with 90 percent of its franchises unaffected by the storm.Eight of 27 New Orleans salons remain closed in severely affected areas while the three damaged units in Mississippi have reopened.Planet Beach had 270 salons before Katrina and added 30 new franchises since the storm.Smith watched Katrina play out on European television while on a cruise with his family in Barcelona. Smith worked with the staff over the phone to set up a satellite office in Houma. Less than a week after Katrina, the company sold its first post-Katrina franchise from that office.It was a lot of planning and a little bit of luck, said Rick Juka, Planet Beach chief operating officer. People have come to believe in our brand, our new repositioning of the brand with the spa concept and we had the financial resources from our other franchises to keep us going while our local stores worked to reopen.Smith said reopened salons have serviced increased traffic. Jodie Mateu, Smith's executive assistant and owner of the Elmwood salon, said 100 clients come in daily now compared with about 60 before the storm. We reopened Sept. 25 and since then we have been booming, Mateu said. We owed it to our customers to reopen early and they have come here daily just looking for somewhere to relax.Spa experienceMost Planet Beach salons nationwide have already begun using the spa equipment but only a handful of New Orleans locations have installed the machines because of financial setbacks from Katrina.Juka estimates between 30 percent and 50 percent of New Orleans stores will have the spa gear by May. The spa equipment allows client treatments in a private room by machine without the need of an attendant. The three spa machines include Luminous Facial Technology, Hydro-Derma Fusion Technology and the Aqua Massage.The massage is a 360-degree full-body massage in 10- or 20-minute increments with pulsating water jets simulating fingertip massages from head to toe. The facial combines light therapy with Planet Beach skin care products. The hydro-ferma fusion technology is a hydration system that prolongs the life of a tan.They put aromatherapy into a dwelling; it's a shell of a humidifer that tops off at 118 degrees and is very peaceful, said Schroeder, who visits the Uptown salon on Tchoupitoulas Street daily. She visits each spa machine and the traditional tanning beds. It opens up your pores and puts all the moisturizers in and the tan lasts longer. Leigh Ann Swanson, a Loyola University New Orleans senior who visits Planet Beach two to three times a week, said the spa brings more choices to the table.It's just like when you work out; you feel better about yourself and more relaxed, Swanson said. They now have more different forms of helping people relax, relieve stress and bettering themselves.Stephanie Noeno, manager at the Uptown salon, said demand for hydration station has been hottest. The new line of tanning products has also helped business, she said.It's access to a spa and tanning bed and various forms of relaxation seven days a week, and with everything else going on in this city, people are thrilled to escape for an hour and break away from everything.