How Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa is Supporting Both Franchisees and Massage Therapists
While spas are temporarily closed due to COVID-19, Hand & Stone is finding new and innovative ways to engage both massage therapists and customers to set franchisees up for success on the other side of the pandemic.
Like countless businesses across the globe, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa found itself in an unprecedented position this spring when COVID-19 forced its 450-plus spas across the U.S. and Canada to temporarily close their doors. While the brand’s membership model leads to more secure and consistent revenue streams for franchisees, Hand & Stone knew that it had to immediately put processes and procedures in place to help franchisees and their massage therapists emerge on the other side of the crisis stronger than ever before.
In addition to covering the basics like enhanced communication efforts to ensure everyone was aware of the latest COVID-19 information as well as the spa’s operating procedures, Hand & Stone went above and beyond to support its local business owners. The brand rolled out resources and guidance on preserving cash flow, loans and leases, at-home massage and facial tips to keep customers engaged and also provided social media and blog content surrounding COVID for local franchisee use.
“One of the biggest benefits that franchisees have over other entrepreneurs is a built-in support system. As a franchisor, it’s our responsibility to help our franchise owners in times like these,” said Bob McQuillan, Vice President of Franchise Development for Hand & Stone. “In the massage and facial industries, this support includes engaging our local owners’ massage therapists to ensure that they can build their businesses once COVID-19 is behind us.”
In addition to directly offering franchisees ongoing support throughout the coronavirus pandemic, Hand & Stone is also finding ways to engage with massage therapists while unable to work. From creating new ways to collaborate and introducing ongoing education initiatives during the current downtime, Nathan Nordstrom, director of massage therapy education and training for Hand & Stone, is playing a crucial role in this process.
“While spas are temporarily closed, we want to continue to engage our community of massage therapists. We launched a weekly webinar series for our therapists to foster excitement and remind therapists why they got into this industry in the first place. We’re also increasing activity on our Facebook page for massage therapists, including the creation of a campaign called ‘Know Your Why’ in which therapists share their self-care routines,” said Nordstrom. “It’s incredibly inspiring to see the positive conversations that are happening right now. These initiatives aren’t mandatory, so it really speaks to the culture that we’ve created at Hand & Stone that there’s so much participation.”
Hand & Stone also has a competitive advantage when it comes to retaining and recruiting talent following COVID-19 due to the additional incentives franchisees are encouraged to offer their therapists.
“We’ve always encouraged our franchisees to offer strong incentives for massage therapists, even before COVID-19,” said Jared Fajerski, SVP of North American operations for Hand & Stone. “Offering benefits, for example, is huge in the industry. Smaller spas are typically unable to offer things like healthcare or 401k matching. This has always been a competitive advantage for us, but it’s going to be even stronger now.”
While there’s still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the lasting impact that COVID-19 will have on businesses across all industries, Hand & Stone is already preparing to emerge on the other side of the current crisis. This includes bracing for aggressive hiring initiatives once spas are open again.
In a recent webinar, McQuillan said, “A franchise like ours now has an unbelievable opportunity from a personnel perspective. Every business has a challenge, and over the last three or four years, the main challenge for us has been finding great talent because there were not many people unemployed. Now, this will likely offer us something we haven’t had in a while, which is a surplus of massage therapists and estheticians to draw from.”
By providing both franchisees and massage therapists with resources and support right now, Hand & Stone is setting itself up for a strong comeback on the other side of the coronavirus crisis. McQuillan adds, “How franchisors set their franchisees up for success right now will determine their growth in the future. When we come out of this, we feel that there’s tons of room for Hand & Stone to grow.”
The total cost to open a Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa ranges from $532,563 to $618,327, including the franchise fee. For more information on available franchise opportunities with Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa, visit https://handandstonefranchise.com/.
MORE STORIES LIKE THIS
The Top 25 Franchise Brands Santa Would Love for 2025
Franchise Deep Dive: Skinovatio Medical Spa Franchise Costs, Fees, Profit and Data
100% Chiropractic's Mission to Transform Health Care Through Education and Wellness
The Ace Up Their Sleeve: How Ace Handyman Services Matters Found the Perfect Partner in Ace Hardware