12 Carrousel du Louvre - BW Confidential
12 Carrousel du Louvre - BW Confidential
12 Carrousel du Louvre - BW Confidential
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
The buzz<br />
Wellness focus<br />
Paris-based spa operator Thémaé president & co-founder Guillaume Lefèvre<br />
How is the European day spa market performing?<br />
The market has been quite difficult <strong>du</strong>e to the economy and a lot of projects have been either postponed<br />
or shelved; we’ve seen many spas go out of business <strong>du</strong>e to overly ambitious projects. Several<br />
years ago there was a flurry of spa openings and operators assumed that with some nice decorative<br />
touches and a couple of massage tables, the customers would flood in. However, there often wasn’t<br />
the notion of quality to back up these concepts, and no long-term vision. Spas have to offer creative<br />
and qualitative treatments to stand out from the competition, especially <strong>du</strong>ring a crisis period.<br />
We opened our first spa in Paris in 2007 in the middle of the recession, so the timing couldn’t have<br />
been worse, but <strong>du</strong>e to our unique concept [all treatments and pro<strong>du</strong>cts are based on tea] and focus<br />
on high-quality service, we have succeeded in developing our day spa in hotel spas worldwide.<br />
How do you recruit new and loyal consumers?<br />
Word of mouth is the best form of communication as it is based on what the client has experienced in the spa. For an<br />
upscale spa, the price of treatments also needs to be justified, and not heavily discounted.<br />
How are discounting sites, such as Groupon, impacting the business?<br />
This is not an approach that a spa should take to develop its business as it is very much based on short-term results. These<br />
kinds of promotions can bring additional cash, but the margin is left by the wayside. Offering large discounts also means<br />
that a spa has to cut down its labor costs, but if you re<strong>du</strong>ce your staff’s pay you are also lowering the quality of the services<br />
provided. The consumers that buy into this kind of promotion also tend not to be loyal, and as a spa operator I want to<br />
build a long-term relationship with my clients.<br />
22<br />
LAS VEGAS - MANDALAY BAY CONVENTION CENTER<br />
ND - 24THJULY 20<strong>12</strong><br />
The Premiere B2B BeAUTY evenT<br />
Organiser: North American Beauty Events LLC. For more info: cpnainfo@probeauty.org | sogecos@cosmoprof.it<br />
COSMOPROFNORTHAMERICA.COM<br />
Attend our sought after conferences.<br />
Complete sche<strong>du</strong>le online!<br />
BOLOGNA | HONG KONG | LAS VEGAS
Change language