The nation’s leading massage and facial spa franchise, recently announced the conversion of 30 LaVida Massage locations across seven states that were rebranded as Hand & Stone franchise spas in October. The expansion located in Arkansas, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Washington allow Hand & Stone to optimize markets where the brand already operates and to establish a presence in new, priority markets.
“We’ve made the deliberate decision to make conversions a core part of our ongoing domestic expansion strategy. Conversions are a win-win for the entire Hand & Stone community, including our clients, our existing franchise owners and their teams, and for the converting operators,” said John Teza, President and Chief Executive Officer at Hand & Stone. “Through the addition of the LaVida Massage spas to our system, we’re reaching more consumers than ever before, and welcoming talented, experienced franchise business owners, who are already familiar with our sector, into our industry-leading brand. We are excited to partner with our new franchise owners and look forward to continuing our growth journey and exploring new opportunities to expand this strategy.”
Hand & Stone supports converting franchisees by providing a full week of new owner training sessions at Hand & Stone’s headquarters, deploying training staff to provide on-site support for spa associate, massage therapist, and esthetician training for all incoming staff, and makes a significant financial investment to support the successful conversion of each spa. In addition to the recent conversion of 30 LaVida locations, the group successfully converted 23 Massage Green locations last year.