Massage Envy Article

[Iqhwan]

Thanks for posting the article Gi!! It is interesting ME acknowledges that a majority of independent practitioners do not like them and believe them to be hurtful to private practice.  I don't know how much I believe their statement that private practitioners are busier once ME moves into town and are grateful.  I would want to know if those in private practice have had to reduce their rates in order to compete.  I agree with R&R that ME is not soon to die because the marketing strategies they are using are quite sound.  Also it is true that most franchise owners/practitioners will work themselves quite hard to prevent closing their doors -- especially if they can eek out a decent living.I wonder how many massage schools seeking to secure their futures will alter how and what they teach in order to provide workers for ME?  If they are currently employing 1,000 practitioners nationwide and are planning to have 100 clinics open by the end of 2005 -- using their numbers -- it offers the potential employment of about 3,000 practitioners by the end of this year.I wonder how on-track they are with their growth forecast?

 

[judy.gideon]

Massage Envy Article

You are welcome, Jill and Kathy! Well, I guess time will tell what big old favor they are doing us all. I see a lot of smoke screen here.

 

[Barb L]

Massage Envy Article

To answer your question, Intuitouch, the going rate for a 1 hour massage, no in a resort setting, in the Phoenix area, which is where ME got their start is $40. Is hard to get much more than that, unless you are doing on site, which you can get about $10 more for the travel. ME is undercutting the prices, plus in the PHX area tipping is virtually unknown.

 

[Pompal 09.]

Massage Envy Article

I live & work in Arizona (live in Scottsdale/work in Gilbert) & have been charging $60 for an hour for over 4 years. My clients do tip me too. In West Phx (Peoria, Goodyear, etc) is it really only $40??? (Sandyolmt, are these your rates too? You are on the westside, right?) Anyway, its not a posh spa or anything, just private massage/facial studios... my own place, but even in the last two salons I rented from, my rates were the same. I am less than a half mile from a Massage Envy location. Although it is always in my thoughts (I even referenced "massage clubs" in my latest newsletter), my business has only grown. Bill & Karen, you guys do Corporate Chair, right? Did you mean $40 an hour for that? (shouldn't you give yourselves a raise?!)Intuitouch, I have not seen the business ebb & flow (and then felt grateful ha) like they say in the article. I do have one anecdote to share though. I used to do an outcall couple who lived pretty far away. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I stopped ALL outcalls. She was a teacher & got a 6 month ME membership from one of her students as an end of the year gift. She said the massages were different, but that it was an added bonus that she & her hubby could be worked on at the same time there. THAT stuck in my head. So now, at my new studios, I have another practitioner that can work on somebody at the same time as I do (even though her bodywork is a completely different realm than mine. She does Tui Na & Zen Shiatsu). THAT's the only way Massage Envy has helped my practice.Jill/sagetherapist