AS THE SPA INDUSTRY continues to grow, trends have cropped up creating a variety of options for potential spa owners. The industry has grown by 38 percent this year alone, according to The Spa Association’s most recent study.

While day spas and medical spas are the leaders in this spurt, those two types of general spas are developing into very different-looking creatures when viewing the larger picture. As with any rapidly expanding industry, it is difficult to predict where the trend patterns will lead us in the next year, but at the moment these are the leading trends.

Old Is New Again

Believe it or not, many spas are coming up with some very basic treatments. What’s more, they are marketing these streamlined treatments as their signature styles.

Part of the angle is getting back to basics. Why go to a spa and be stressed over a 50-page menu with 200 choices of exotic treatments that are so different they aren’t understood by the staff or clients?

Similar to a minimalist strategy for decorating a great room, these spas are keeping the most classic of services and truly making them comprehensive, results-oriented and worth every penny.

This trend plays out in profitability for the spa’s bottom line for many reasons. There is less time spent on training the staff on so many services that are heavily themed and more time spent on the skill sets required to do energetic massage or to perform a truly clinical facial.

Because the treatments are focused on achieving real results and not just relaxing the client, the client tends to come in more regularly, sign up for series services and feel like he or she is getting a good value. Because the menu is smaller and more focused, the concierge staff feels more comfortable recommending add-on services. Finally, homecare is much easier to prescribe because each treatment has a clear-cut selection for the client to use in between spa visits.

Spa To Go

Many spas are offering in-house—as in your house—treatments.

These businesses are seeing a lot of different kinds of scenarios including: all kinds of parties, corporate retreats in rural and in office settings, and individuals who are very busy, affluent, celebrity or actively cocooning.

The other spa-to-go trend is more like a drive-through fast-food spa experience. This is America, after all, and Americans are all about convenience and speed of delivery.

Spas now are offering blocks of time for sale. Once clients arrive at the spa, they decide what they would like to receive, for example, in the 90-minute session they have reserved. Many times services are done in tandem. For instance, a person might receive a pedicure while also having a full-body massage. Busy clients love the fact that they don’t have to spend a half-day at a spa to receive all of the services they crave. Because the time is blocked out as it is, the spa is freed up to accommodate more clients. It’s a win-win for everyone involved.

Finally, the lunchtime treatment also is a popular choice. Nonablative skin rejuvenation, microdermabrasion, enzymatic peels and, of course, massage all are popular choices. Obviously spas located near businesses or downtown of cities all are benefiting from this trend due to the corporate response. Serving a light lunch and offering a complimentary makeup touch-up makes this treatment a real winner for busy spa-goers.

What is a “resort day spa”? Simply put, this is a spa in a major urban area or in the central portion of a larger town that is as opulent as a destination spa with many of the same amenities.

They often sit on acreage with lagoons, reflective pools and elaborate gardens.

While resort day spas also tend to carry the price tag of a destination spa, they offer more complimentary perks. Some examples are a labyrinth with guided imagery and group journaling or various water treatments such as polar and thermal plunge pools, saline therapy tanks and float tanks. A complimentary lunch or light snack and beverage often are included along with an ultraplush robe, slippers or signature skincare sampler kit to take home.

In essence, resort day spas are for those spa junkies who want more and are willing to pay for it.

As fast as the industry is moving, all this could change over the next several months. As each spa tries to become the next big thing, it only makes sense that new products, services, themes and marketing strategies will continue to take the industry to the next level.

Melinda Minton is a spa consultant and health and beauty expert living in Fort Collins, Colo. A licensed massage therapist, esthetician and cosmetologist with an MBA in marketing, she founded The Spa Association, a world-class organization dedicated to enriching the professional beauty industry through self-regulation, education and sound business practices. Recently featured in Entrepreneur magazine, Minton serves as a resource for such magazines as Better Homes and Gardens, Shape, First for Women and Alternative Medicine.

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