Franchisee Profile: Shahira Raineri

Franchisee Since: Summer 2010
Franchise Location: Mission Viejo and Tustin, California

How Shahira Raineri Got Started With Hand & Stone…
For over 20 years, Shahira led teams in Marketing and Product Management in the corporate world and wanted to take this experience to be an owner of her own business. Her career experiences allowed her to work on many projects including launching new products and services as well as new brands, all of which helped Shahira recognize her passion for starting new ventures. At the same time, she grew tired of the slow-moving bureaucracy plaguing the corporate world. Shahira decided to take her skills and accomplishments and move in a direction that would allow her to become her own boss.

Shahira made a list of things she enjoyed and began some serious soul searching. Before long she began looking at franchises, particularly those in the service industry. As a massage enthusiast, Hand & Stone became a clear choice.

What Intrigued Shahira Raineri about Hand & Stone …
In the early stages of her search, Shahira looked at a number of massage franchises in addition to Hand & Stone, including Massage Envy and Massage Heights. However, Hand & Stone’s sound business strategy helped rule its competitors out, and a meeting with Hand & Stone CEO Todd Leff cemented the brand as the right choice. Shahira knew the excellent executive management of Hand & Stone combined with her extensive experience in brand creation and new project launches would be a recipe for success.

Something Interesting About Shahira Raineri’s Story…
Shahira put a lot of time into finding the perfect market to open Hand & Stone locations. She ultimately chose the Orange County, California area. The two initial locations, Mission Viejo and Tustin, are both located in high-income areas. Shahira is so confident about the Orange County region that she’s uprooted her family in New Jersey and moved 3,000 miles to the area. She has even signed on with Hand & Stone as an Area Developer, meaning she will be responsible for franchise development throughout the region. Current plans include opening two locations in fall 2010 in Mission Viejo and Tustin in Orange County, with another location on the books. Her future plans include 3 more locations in the area and as area developer, to bring many more future franchises on board in the Orange County, California region.

Hand and Stone featured in Philadelphia Business Journal

Hand & Stone was just featured in the Philadelphia Business Journal because of its success helping franchisees save money! With the economy in a rough patch, Hand & Stone is pitching in where it can to support their franchisees. Check a portion of the story below or read the entire article here:

In a slow year, franchisors cut deals to keep growing
Philadelphia Business Journal - by Sonja Sherwood Staff Writer

With business loans still hard to come by, franchisors unwilling to sacrifice growth are making their systems more affordable to new owners by reducing franchise fees, offering incentives, providing in-house financing or scrutinizing their business model for savings that can be shared throughout the system.

Hand & Stone, a Hamilton, N.J.-based spa concept with eight locations in the Philadelphia area, saves each franchisee tens of thousands of dollars on average by negotiating favorable rent and cashback from the landlord for tenant improvements.

“A lot of landlords have got a lot more vacancy than they used to,” said Bob McQuillan, vice president for franchise development. “There’s not a lease that we’ve done that we haven’t received money back from the landlord.” (Read More)

Franchisee Profile: Steve Currier and Craig Schumacher

Something Interesting About Steve and Craig’s Story…
Since Craig and Steve took over the Hand & Stone location in Ahwatukee in March 2010, they have doubled their customer count (in 90 days). With their past experience together in business ownership, Craig and Steve have hit the ground running right and plan to expand with additional locations throughout the region because of the vast success with their first location.

How Steve and Craig Got Started With Hand & Stone…
Steve and Craig have been involved in the fitness industry since 1979, when they were co-owners of several fitness clubs throughout Ohio and Michigan. As time progressed, Steve and Craig opened over 20 Q, The Sports Club locations throughout Florida, Tennessee, Texas, Arizona, California and Nevada, which provided high end gym memberships at low cost. Steve and Craig eventually sold their fitness club’s to a large international company, which still operate today.

Craig ventured into business with Massage Envy, working at the corporate level to help develop the brand nationally, which was founded by a past business partner of Craig and Steve’s from the fitness industry. After discovering the Hand & Stone concept and realizing that it was the next generation of Massage Envy, Craig and Steve decided to get back in business together and partner with Hand & Stone and become business owners of the spa in Ahwatukee, which allowed for them to become involved in a concept with infrastructure already in place.

What Intrigued Steve and Craig about Hand & Stone…
Craig and Steve realized that Hand & Stone was a step ahead of Massage Envy, meaning that Hand & Stone was more contemporary, less pedestrian and ultimately provided an all-around better experience to members. Craig and Steve were intrigued by the fact that Hand & Stone provides more spa like features, including facials and stone massage, which are a big part of Hand & Stone’s ability to bring massage to the masses at an affordable rate.

Where Specifically Did Steve and Craig Learn About Hand & Stone?
Craig and Steve learned about Hand & Stone while Craig was working for Massage Envy, one of Hand & Stone’s main competitors. Craig realized that Hand & Stone was the next generation in massage services and decided to become involved in the concept with his lifelong friend and business partner.

Hand and Stone Feautred in Colorado Springs Gazette

Hand and Stone was recently featured in a great article in the Colorado Springs Gazette called, “Prime territory? Four franchisors see Springs as ripe for business,” which published Saturday, August 14. The article was built from an in-depth interview with Erik Bostrom about why Colorado Springs is a great expansion market for Hand & Stone, what makes Hand & Stone a step above the competition and who makes the ideal franchisee. A portion of the article is below and you can view the article in its entirety here.

Prime territory? Four franchisors see Springs as ripe for business
By Bill Radford

HAND & STONE
Hand & Stone, a massage and facial spa, was launched by a physical therapist in New Jersey in 2005 and has grown to about 30 locations. Erik Bostrom operates a Hand & Stone franchise in Highlands Ranch; he’s also regional developer for Colorado and is looking at three markets: northern Colorado, Denver and Colorado Springs. He envisions two to three locations in the Springs and 20 or so in the Denver area.

In Colorado, “we’re looking at kind of a perfect storm of conditions that make it perfect to grow,” he said. Colorado’s economy is starting to recover more quickly than the nation as a whole, he said; at the same time, a soft commercial real estate market makes acquiring property easier. And Colorado’s active, healthy lifestyle provides the ideal clientele, he added.

Bostrom said he is particularly interested in the Springs because of its large population of former military.

“Folks that are former military tend to do very well in franchises,” he said. “They understand the benefits of following a designed system.”

Bostrom cites a total initial investment of $280,000 to $375,000 for a franchisee. Beyond the finances, he said, he’s looking for franchisees with solid management skills.

“We’re going to teach you the industry,” he said. “That’s what we’re experts in.”

Another massage franchise, Massage Envy, is already settled in town with two locations in the Springs.

“I give Massage Envy credit,” Bostrom said. “They were the first in this industry.”
But he said, “I think we’ve built a better mousetrap in a number of different ways.” One factor he cites is the breadth of Hand & Stone’s services, going beyond massage to include services such as facials, chemical peels, microdermabrasion and a variety of waxing services.

(Read More)

Hand & Stone moves into St. Louis

Hand & Stone has just announced its expansion plans for St. Louis. Check out the St. Louis Business Journal article to find out more about Hand & Stone’s development in St. Louis and throughout the Midwest. The brand’s entrance into the market will be led by a husband and wife entrepreneurial team: Tony and Christy Burke!


Hand & Stone Massage to enter St. Louis market
St. Louis Business Journal - by Kelsey Volkmann

Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa plans to enter the St. Louis market this fall when husband-and-wife franchisees open a location in Des Peres.

Christy and Tony Burke plan to open a massage and facial salon in a shopping center in November, with four or five other area locations to follow.

Bob McQuillan, a vice president of franchise development for the Hamilton, N.J.-based company, said Hand & Stone picked St. Louis for its expansion because it wanted to add new time zones and locations in the Midwest. Other targets for expansion are Chicago and Indianapolis, he said.

The company has 32 stores but plans to have 50 by the end of the year, McQuillan said.

Read More


The St. Louis Post-Dispatch also featured a story about this expansion, and you can read it here: Hand & Stone to open first local massage franchise in Des Peres

A similar follow-up on this story was also posted by the St Louis Business Journal, and you can read it here: Franchise Mania in St Louis