“People want to bring home the spa experience,
and they want a longer experience in the spa.”
— kara tefft, co-owner, a la mode spa and salon
treatment space, relaxation areas and a larger salon. Tefft
cites a trend away from traditional hot stone add-ons to
himalayan salt add-ons as an inspiration for a new relax-
ation room in which they’re considering placing a salt wall
or salt panel.
retail has been growing for a La mode—the spa’s new
location will also include a larger retail space—and the
product mix has changed. “People want to bring home the
spa experience, and they want a longer experience in the
spa,” says Tefft, who notes that spa-goers are purchasing
more diffusers, aromatherapy oils and massage tools than
ever before.
resort recovery
a la mode spa and salon recently reopened at a new location in yakima,
Washington.
at the time, the spa primarily used aveda products and
emphasized typical, traditional spa methodologies. While
those treatments are still on the menu, they “now have
hydrafacials and Dermaflash, things that are just a little
more aggressive,” says Tefft. The main driver for the
change has been a La mode’s own customers, who Tefft
says are increasingly demanding more treatments, as well
as those that integrate new technology.
When Tefft purchased a La mode, the spa was “bursting
at the seams” and in need of a renovation. in may, they
moved into a new space in yakima that offers more
a spa director with hyatt for over a decade, Erica Korpi has
now been spa director of hyatt regency Lake Tahoe resort
– Stillwater Spa for nearly nine years. She had spent the
previous few years leading a hyatt property in Seattle that
“was a brand-new property, brand-new spa that opened
right during the economic crash” and is no stranger to the
difficulty of running a spa at that time.
“ownership meetings became much lengthier, scruti-
nizing every dollar spent,” Korpi says. “once the country
began to recover, we had more freedom to make those
creative decisions that we lacked in 2008 and 2009.”
once settled at Lake Tahoe in late 2010, Korpi set about
making more creative decisions, such as placing a stronger
emphasis on attracting local business—at the time,
business bookings were still down, and evolution was
necessary to bolster revenue. To drum up excitement, Korpi
added hydrafacial treatments at the spa—“customers
were asking us to incorporate new technology,” notes
Korpi—and launched them at a local party. “our guest mix
is now seventy percent hotel guests, thirty percent local.
That number was much lower when i first arrived, and has
steadily risen since.”
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