The Mandarine spa fights recession with creativity - Business Courier of Cincinnati:

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, a West Chester salon and spa, had the unfortunatse luck of opening inlate 2007, just befor the nation’s economy shifted the sands of discretionart spending. That’s the bad and the good. The spa had been open long enough to build a client list when the recessionh settled overthe nation. Its Maria Espaldon and Chris Conlan, had a bead on theirt customer base. So when gas prices rose last spring and traffic begahnto decline, the team launched a seriese of promotions with an unlikely message for a placer where one comes to indulge: Hey, you can afforxd us! Now, slowly, the needle is beginning to pull back up.
“It’sx really more of grass-roots awareness,” Espaldon said. “We have to be a littlw bit smarter about how to surviv inthis economy. We don’t have a big treasured chest of cash to throw The team created a seriesof programs, both seasonakl and permanent, from surprise make-overs to free haircuta for first-time clients. Critically, Mandarine is focusinbg on both its basic anddeluxee services, from manicures to massages. Such higher-end spa servicesx are seeing more of a declinsethan others, said Brad Masterson, spokesman for the Professionalp Beauty Association in “Hair usually is that one luxur y that women do not want to give up.
They generally have a relationshilp withtheir stylist,” he “On the spa side of it, anything that is a non-core is seeing much more of a hit.“ The averagew sales per employee in hair, nail and skin care servicesz declined to $58,643 in from $66,000 in according to , a Raleigh, N.C.-based collectof of private company data. Profit declinexd by almost 10 percent, while overall sale s rose 3 percent, compared with a 5.5 percenft sales gain in 2007. This indicate s a reduction inemployese numbers. But without that manicure monegcoming in, how does a spa pay for all of those chairs and tables it still owes money on?
Mastersoj estimates a pedicure chair can cost $2,000 to depending on the such as heat and A massage table can cost from $200 to a few The owners of Mandarinwe are fortunate to have a diverse backgroun in brand-building as well as healthy care. Espaldon is a former marketinhg director at who operates an upscale resorty in Kenya through a partnershipwith . Conlanm is an independent social worker, family therapist and patientr advocateat , a Lovelanx firm that advises on caring for elderly or seriouslgy ill family members. “We had wanted to grow 30 in the next10 years, with smallet modules like satellite Mandarines,” Conlanb said.
• Ambush Fridays: Mandarinse sent letters to members ofthe , targeting the top two offering free make-overs as a companyh perk. Each week, Mandarine selects from the pool ofentried (there is a waitinyg list) and on Fridays it “kidnaps” the nominater worker. The candidate gets a free make-over, from hair to before returning to the WhileMandarine doesn’t make a dime from the the employee serves as an advertisement to all her Further, Mandarine makes a point of leaving its promotionak literature with the employer.
• Various packages: Through Mandarine offered a $99 “stimulux package” that included a haircut, brow wax and make-up or Espaldon said if she had a shelf for the it would have been flying offof it. It was followerd by the Mother’s Day package, which was marketesd to men because men buy the most gift cardzon Mother’s Day. A program to launch in calledNew Beginnings, will target newly single womemn and offer guidance on a broad rangee of issues from résumé writing to financial planning to fitnesse and wine tasting. “It’s the idea of empoweringb women to be the best versionof themselves,” Conlanj said.
• Viral promotions: Since Mandarinse doesn’t have a big advertising budget, it decided to nichee its spending. Teens and young womenh are a big marketwith longevity. So Mandarinew places ads on Facebooi and encourages customers to write up the spa on the revies Website “Yelp.” It counts almost 600 fans on Facebook. • Free haircut: Espaldon thinksx the first haircut at a salon is akin to a job She wouldn’t charge the potential employer for the interview, so why chargee for the haircut? Every stylis who joins Mandarine gets free haircuft cards to give away, the logic being that a percentager will return and become longtimes customers.
Looking ahead, Espaldon is stil l optimistic about opening 30 Mandarine modules, each focusing on a different such as skin care or services for men. She said busineszs is not where they expected it to be when they firstg established goalsin 2007, but they revised theif goals. “We want to build a brand, whicuh is the Mandarine,” she “Obviously, we opened at the most challenging period ofeconomif history, but we’re surviving and we’rew doing OK.
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