Successful Franchisee Roxanne Power Is Helping to Grow Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa’s Canadian Footprint

Since first arriving in Canada in 2008, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa has seen a significant amount of growth — so much so that it has even expanded its footprint to over 31 locations across Canada. To continue this momentum, Hand & Stone has launched a comprehensive growth strategy to expand its Canadian presence in 2020. Now, the massage and facial spa service franchise is well on its way to steady Canadian growth. 

Power owns and operates one Hand & Stone location in Ajax, Ontario and has seen great success since opening in January 2018. She is currently preparing to open her second in Oshawa later this year. 

According to Power, both of her parents are entrepreneurs, so owning and operating a business is something she was familiar with from a young age. After graduating college in 1997, Power even helped her mother open her business in their hometown of Lamaline, Newfoundland. However, after a few months Power realized that staying in Lamaline and working at her mother’s business wasn’t exactly what she pictured herself doing for the remainder of her career. This motivated her to move to Ontario and find a career path she was passionate about. 

“My first ‘real’ job was with the Toronto SUN Newspaper working in advertising,” Power said. “Over the 13 years I was with them, I moved around within the corporation and eventually worked my way up to Account Manager. I spent a significant amount of time learning the newspaper sales industry — even taking additional training courses to improve my knowledge. While working at the newspaper, I was also working as a part-time bartender on the evenings and weekends.”

Thirteen years and two kids later, Power decided it was time to return to her entrepreneurial roots and proceeded to buy a daycare centre. “My husband had his own business, which took up a lot of time,” she said. “I was already helping him with bookkeeping and administration — and because both of us were from Newfoundland and didn’t have any family near, it was difficult and expensive to find daycare for when we were both at work.”

Power operated the daycare centre for seven years and even had a third child during that time. However, once her youngest daughter started kindergarten, Power decided it was time to pursue a new business opportunity — and that opportunity was with Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa. 

According to Power, she invested a lot of time in researching new business opportunities, but throughout her search, one brand in particular kept on popping up: Hand & Stone. “I had visited a Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa in the past but never considered buying a spa,” she said. “But each time I went online to research a franchise, the Hand & Stone link would pop up on my screen, every single time. And one day, I clicked the link out of curiosity, filled out the inquiry and got a call within five minutes from Hand & Stone’s Vice President Brett Harding. I instantly had a good feeling, and he suggested we set up a meeting to discuss the opportunity further. Within a week, I was in his office for an in-person meeting.”

Power did her due diligence: She visited open Hand & Stone locations and spoke to other current franchisees and staff members before she made her decision. “It just felt right, every step, so I brought my husband in for a meeting and he felt the same way,” Power said. “Having experienced a few health ailments of my own, I fell in love with the wellness aspect of it all. It was a way of helping others feel better.”

One thing in particular Power loves about Hand & Stone is the personal touch it offers its customers. “You won’t experience many places where you’ll receive exceptional customer service,” she said. “We are seen as professionals that do the best job out there, from the time you walk in the door to that first smile, that first welcome. We pride ourselves on our knowledge, compassion and exceptional treatment of each individual client.”

Offering diverse and beneficial services to her clients is important to Power. In 2019 Power’s Hand & Stone location expanded her hair removal list of services as part of a pilot, and she noted how clients love the “one-stop aspect” of her spa, which offers everything from massages to facials and full service hair removal. Additionally, to further serve her clients and her community, Power’s location offers specials for birthdays, specials for promotions in partnership with community organizations and sponsorships for schools and charities. 

President of Hand & Stone Massage Spa Canada, Gigi Harding touted Power’s ability to connect with the community. “Roxanne is an incredible franchisee because she is so enthusiastic about the Hand & Stone brand. Plus, she is so creative and takes every promotion and runs with it. For example, we do seasonal promotions—Christmas in July. She creates incentives for her staff and makes sure all clients are aware of the promotion by decorating the spa. Thanks to this creativity, she is incredibly successful with any promotion she runs. She is also a great manager of people and really works with her team to drive results. She is an amazing leader with a strong vision for where she wants to go with her Hand & Stone spa.” 

With such enthusiastic and hardworking franchisees such as Roxanne Power, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is well-poised to achieve its Canadian growth goals. 

Hand & Stone is always looking for new franchisees to help grow its footprint. Start-up costs to open a Hand & Stone franchise in Canada range from CA$485,730 to CA$701,780 with a franchise fee of CA$45,000. To receive a breakdown of fees, estimated initial investment costs, contracts, corporate financial statements and other valuable information included in the Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD), visit https://handandstonemassagefranchise.ca/.