Dayspa....

SPA SYDELL TODAY

DAYSPA: We understand you’ve been quite busy since we last profiled Spa Sydell and your (then) three spas back in the July/August, 1997 issue. Can you provide a full update?

Harris: We should have started our own construction business with all the work we have done since 1997. First of all, we expanded our original Buckhead location from 6,000 square feet to 8,500 square feet. It now has 22 treatment rooms along with additional locker room, relaxation room, and café facilities. Then, we opened our Gwinnett location with 5,000 square feet, our Alpharetta spa with 6,000 square feet, and, last year, topped that off with our Atlanta Midtown location with 14,000 square feet. We have started construction on our seventh location in Peachtree Corners, which will contain 11,000 square feet on two levels.

DAYSPA: You’ve always done well with companies. We understand you even hosted more than 500 pharmaceutical reps at one point. What are some of your innovations with corporate groups and team building?

Harris: The Midtown location has triggered renewed marketing to attract corporate business. Email, direct mailings, client solicitation, and business publications are all part of this marketing effort. This location can accommodate 30 treatments at the same time. Multiply that by a few shifts and we can handle sizable groups. In a pinch, such as the day we needed to handle a 500-person group, we shuttle to other convenient locations. Combined, our three urban locations can accommodate 70 people each hour. As before, we are standing fast to our concept of dayspa and do not offer hair services at any of our locations. That means we enjoy many referrals from our colleagues in the hair industry. In addition to corporate groups, we are working closely with the hospitality industry to garner convention business. Atlanta is a great convention city with an expanded Trade Center, new hotels, and new and better restaurants springing up every day!

DAYSPA: What about small ‘group’ events?

Harris: Our smaller group business is centered around bridal and birthday celebrations and it is a rare week that goes by without multiple bookings in this arena. Sydell Harris continues to be a strong draw for groups by delivering motivational and inspirational talks to alternating groups having services.

DAYSPA: What’s this we hear about your Teen Age Clean program?

Harris: The Teen Age Clean program speaks for itself. We all know that (along with galloping hormones) the major culprit in young, disturbed skins is lack of a proper cleaning and exfoliation regimen. The Sydell Skin Care line includes special products ideally suited for the young complexion and we have developed a treatment menu to match. Most of our young clients come to us through satisfied parents, but we maintain a consistent dialogue and cross referral with dermatologists as well.

DAYSPA: You’ve also added lunch specials, right?

Harris: This is a busy life we all lead and, to serve the busiest among us, we have added a “Fast Facial” and a “Fast Massage” to our menu--as well as brief Microdermabrasion and Skin Peel treatments that will fit nicely into a lunch hour, with time to spare for a nutritious midday snack.

DAYSPA: How do you see the dayspa industry changing?

Harris: We are on the threshold of a totally new synergistic effort with health management corporations, as well as hospitals themselves. The so-called medical aesthetic industry, which is comprised principally of one aesthetician employed by a plastic surgeon or dermatologist (and a few OBGYN’s thrown in), cannot handle the volume of wellness-related treatments that looms on the horizon. Our plan is to partner with selected forward-looking institutions who understand that alternative or supplemental treatment has arrived. Our job is not to replace traditional medicine in any way, but to help make a patient’s immune systems more amenable to traditional practices. This being said, our industry, in this direction and in many others, is at the beginning of a tremendous growth pattern--of which we hope to be shapers and initiators.

DAYSPA: How are you using the Internet?

Harris: We recognize the Internet as an important tool in the growth of our business--not solely as a sales instrument, as so many of our colleague’s perceive it, but as a means to educate the consumer as to how we can improve their lives. To that end, we shall devote a large percentage of space to education by experts in our field--drawn from our employee base and from the industry, as well as from other professions. We feel this will give the public a first-hand glimpse of our beliefs and mission statement. Internally, with the help of Spa Biz, our software, we have the capability from any of our computers, to be able to see what is occurring any time during the day in all of our spas.

DAYSPA: What new products or concepts are you most excited about?

Harris: With the help of our chemists and the essential cooperation of our 85 aestheticians and clients, we have recently come up with the duo package we call Dermal Resurfacing. These products, along with several others, have transformed our skin care line from an advanced maintenance regimen to an exciting results-oriented system that produces almost immediate improvement in any skin since, it provides exfoliation as well as a microdermabrasive effect. Breaking shortly is an entire bath and body segment named Rose’s Garden--in honor of my mother who had flawless skin and never in her life required depilation. The line will include bath salts, candles, and soap, which will incorporate our own formula of essential oils, along with massage and body oils and lotions for retail and professional use in our spas.

DAYSPA: Along with your seventh location this fall, what do you see Spa Sydell doing in the coming years?

Harris: Following the opening of our seventh Atlanta dayspa this fall--with the possible exception of one more suburb--we will set our sights outside of our booming metropolis. We’ll have to keep our next move our little secret for now, for obvious strategic reasons. But for logistical purposes, we plan on staying in the Sun Belt for the next few years. Our extended business family now includes around 400 employees, among whom are about 150 massage therapists, 85 aestheticians, and 60 nail stylists. I forgot to mention that we have incorporated a central call center which books appointments and sells gift certificates for all the locations; a central distribution center for products and maintenance gear; and a laundry that provides towels, robes, sheets, etc. for the whole city on a daily delivery basis. We have combined all this, along with our corporate offices, under one roof for heightened efficiency.

DAYSPA: How have you managed to maintain the quality of your service in spite of your growth?

Harris: The proud answer is that through our intensive training program, consistent supervision, and selective hiring, our clients continue to be pleased and loyal. No, I do not know everyone by name as I once knew every client, but we have a close-knit management team that leaves me free for speaking engagements, product development, and other things I dearly love to do. We are still very much a family business in fact and in spirit. My great joy is to see a client transformed from a person burdened by stress upon entering our spa to a radiant, relaxed, and appreciative individual an hour or five hours later--depending upon which services he or she has enjoyed.

DAYSPA: How do you hire, train, and keep top-notch people?

Harris: We employ a full time in-house HR person who works on recruiting full time. Recently, a new entity in our industry opened in Atlanta and published inflated salary offers for technicians. The few who responded have since left and gone back to their previous employers. We are proud of the number of people who have been with us for ten years or more. While earnings are always linked to the individual’s ability, we feel we have an edge by supplying more new clients to supplement their regulars and by providing an environment that is comfortable and conducive to professional behavior. Our company credo is to treat each employee as if he or she is a client--and they are our clients and source of income.

DAYSPA: How has the dayspa business in general changed since 1997? What about the effects of 9/11 and the war?

Harris: In the six years that have elapsed since 1997, the dayspa industry has made giant strides toward sitting side by side with the hair industry in becoming part of the American lifestyle. This shaky economy, particularly since 9/11 and the war, has shown that many of our clients cling to their regular visits for massages and facials much as they do to haircuts and manicures. As they verbalize it to us, they might defer more significant purchases but compensate themselves with things (like our services) that keep their normal lives together. So, yes, we have had a slight decrease but nothing compared to our friends in the restaurants, hotels, etc. Frankly, we have been doing a lot better than our own industry as a whole, judging by rumors, and I like to think it’s because we are stressing attentive service more than ever.

DAYSPA: What’s the optimal size for a dayspa?

Harris: I’d like to throw that question right back at you. What is the optimal size for a dayspa? Starting with the original location of 1,700 square feet up to the most recent, at 14,000 square feet, we have always asked ourselves the same question: “How will we ever fill it up?” The answer, of course, is that you never actually fill it every day, all day--but like any restaurant or hotel, it needs to be big enough so that the busy days will make up for the not so busy ones.

DAYSPA: How often do you review and change your spa menus?

Harris: We review our spa menus every day. Seriously, with almost 90 estheticians and 150 massage therapists, we get valid suggestions every single day and consider each one. Since printing is expensive, we probably make changes about three times a year. However, when something cutting edge comes along, we’ll feature it in-house and on our website as a special.

DAYSPA: What have been your most successful marketing programs?

Harris: Our secret weapon in marketing is my son, Richard Harris, who is currently President of Spa Sydell. His ongoing strength has been in radio promotions. Most recently, we have had a lot of fun and success by using my voice and personal messages on radio and on telephone hold.

DAYSPA: From the start, what have you learned about making spas profitable?

Harris: From day one, we have tried to run our business as you might a successful, basic diet. Just as in the latter, you burn more calories than you take in; we are always counting, always aware, and always careful to spend less than we take in. It is true that there are times when we feel like a conduit, a pipeline for money passing from clients to employees, but there are always better days around the corner. Most important--from the start we have foregone immediate gratification and adopted the pattern of putting capital back in the business to sustain growth. Ask me again in ten years and I’ll let you know how it worked out.