Business Profile: LaVida Massage

This week's Monday Business Profile is on LaVida Massage, 15706 N. Dale Mabry Highway in the Colonial Promenade shopping center.

Find out more below:

Owner:

Doug Walker is the owner of Florida’s only LaVida franchise. His wife, Katie, is the general manager.

Vital Stats:

Phone: 813-264-4772
On the Web:Tampa.FL.LaVidaMassage.com
Doing Business since: December 2010

Type of Business:

Custom massage. There are nine therapists, male and female. According to Walker, the massage experience is customized to the client’s needs. “You pay for the time slot,” he said, not for the massage type.

The result is that customers are not required to pick and choose their massage experience, rather they can get whichever massage is right for them on that particular day. “I love massages because I understand the benefits of them,” Walker said.

About what the company does:

According to Walker, the typical massage client for any massage center has been women 25 to 50, however that is changing.

“What we’re doing is making massage available for everyone,” Walker said. “There’s a lot of husbands and wives, fathers and daughters, mothers and daughters.” 

There's even an increase in personal grooming - for men.

“You see a lot more males who are open to even getting facials,” Walker said, referencing another service LaVida provides. “Ten years ago, if a guy said he was going to get a facial, he would be laughed at. Now, it’s very common.”

The American Massage Therapy Association industry group estimated that 22 percent of adult Americans had a massage at least once between 2008 and 2009, mostly for health or therapeutic reasons.

Walker said that customers choose LaVida because massages are tailor-made. He cited LaVida’s The Life Benefits Program that allows members to come in one hour or 90 minutes once a month at a discounted rate that is automatically billed to a bank account or credit card. Prices start at $49.95 for a 60-minute massage or facial.

“We’re very flexible in working with individuals to build a plan that’s best for them,” Walker said. “We don’t do high-pressure sales.”

The AMTA estimated that massage therapy was a $16 billion to $20 billion industry in 2009, and according to Walker, the massage industry is growing, even in a recession, as evidenced by franchise chain centers like LaVida.

Many clients he sees have never been to a massage center, and Walker said he views that as untapped potential in an unsaturated market. Even with a sluggish economy, Walker said owning a LaVida franchise was a good bet, because there is no inventory, and the service is pay-as-you-go.

“The days where massage was viewed as a $200 to $300 luxury are over,” Walker said. “You look at it as a health routine, not as a once-in-a-while thing.”