DSA Spa Industry Blog

Once upon a time…

… in 1991, when I first started to look at day spas as a viable industry - the country was showing tell-tale signs of recession. By 1993 many professionals couldn’t afford the luxury of traveling to destination / resort spas. The reasons were elemental - these spas were expensive, and there was the lurking fear of their job disappearing while they were away for a few days. Hence, it was out of necessity that the day spa industry was born!

The Day Spa Association published its first day spa directory in 1994. It contained some 70 day spas around the country. Consumers were beginning to discover that going to a day spa for a few hours enabled them to escape the tensions inherent in the everyday rat race. They also found that a visit to the day spa once a month for a few hours provided lasting benefits that an annual resort spa sojourn could not sustain. Thus, the recession had a positive effect on day spas! Consequently, in the mid-1990’s the industry started to grow by leaps and bounds!

The same thing happened after 9-11…

Those of you who were around then will remember that immediately after this tragedy clients stayed home. Soon after, however, they came in droves to the day spas, the only place where they felt safe, nurtured and pampered without leaving home! Did you notice this at your day spa?

Today the scene is a bit different…

There is a lot of competition out there and a day spa owner needs to look at all business aspects in order to remain competitive with the day spa around the corner or down the street.

Let’s talk business then, shall we?

Read the Recession Fighter’s post on ”Slashing Operating Costs”.

Share your own 1990s recession story or 9-11 day spa experience with us.