In a northwest corner of New Jersey, close to Pennsylvania’s Poconos Mountains, in the midst of a rural community, sits The Brass Rose Spa & Salon. Opened in mid-January, the salon was designed to be an elegant retreat with a subtle twist-a salon that reaches a level of sanitation and sterilization that is virtually unparalleled.

With a background in nursing, and later consulting, Rosemary Weiner is now new to the business world. She used her medical training to move into nursing administration, consulting, and finally big business, where she was involved in healthcare cost containment. While involved in nursing, Weiner was director of quality assurance at a major hospital as well as director of infection control.

In 1990, she started her own business, Preferred Payment Systems, with “two phones, a fax, and myself.” In just five years, it grew to be a Fortune 500 company. After six years of running this national company, Weiner found herself burnt out on the healthcare industry and wanting to do something that she would enjoy.

“I used to go to spas and I was not always comfortable with where I got my nails done,” Weiner attests. “I became frustrated trying to find a place where I could go. And I began to think that this was something I could do.”

The seed had been planted. Weiner decided in 1996 that she would leave Preferred Payment Systems and start her own salon and spa. Along with reading magazines and professional journals, and doing extensive research, she come across a video of Noelle deCaprio from Noelle The Day Spa in Connecticut. “I was very much inspired by her,” Weiner explains. “I liked her style and liked her approach to customer service.” 

Cleanliness Is the Key

Weiner’s main complaint about the salons she had visited was their sanitation procedures-or lack thereof. “I made a commitment to sanitation and infection control because I thought that you could be elegant and still provide these services,” says Weiner.

Several key issues plagued her thoughts. Ventilation, water, and sterilization were all fundamental elements that had to be addressed. She wanted to present nail stations that were properly ventilated, with localized running water, and autoclaves to sterilize any equipment that would be used on more than one client.

One of Weiner’s main design goals was virtually unheard of in the salon industry-manicure stations equipped with hot and cold running water. This enables the client and the nail technician to remain at the station throughout the service without having to get up to wash their hands. She turned to professional contractors to build equipment customized to her vision. Working with people who were not familiar with what she was trying to accomplish meant the stations had to be rebuilt three times before they met her strict standards.

Weiner even took it one step further by adding autoclaves at each station. That’s big investment, but according to Weiner, it was worth every penny.

Her approach to infection control is nonpareil. To help educate her clients on proper sanitation procedures, she designed a pamphlet that is handed to all nail customers. Inside the tri-fold brochure, Weiner explains her policies and why it is important to her to make sterilization such a priority at The Brass Rose.

And the policies at The Brass Rose are firm. Anything that cannot be sterilized after use (nail files, buffing blocks, nail brushed, etc.) is offered to the client to take home. If the client does not want them, they are simply discarded, never to be used again on another person. All metal implements are sterilized right at the manicure station and presented on the client in a clear, sealed pouch. Disinfectant is also poured fresh for each customer.

“The pouch is what impresses people the most,” claims Weiner. “They related that to a doctor’s office, no matter how much we talk about infection control, when they see the tech opening the pouch and removing the implements. That’s when they really get it.”

Making a conscious decision to educate her staff and her clients, Weiner places much emphasis on training.

"The biggest misperception that I found in the staff that I used to help me develop the services is that they truly did not know the difference between sanitation, disinfection, and sterilization," explains Weiner. "To my horror, I realized that nobody really understood what sterile meant. So I went on a big education campaign.

"We have a very formal training, where each of the technicians in all of the departments must learn each of the services we offer," explains Weiner. "We have written policies and procedures for each of the manicures, each of the pedicures, and so on. Each one is demonstrated to the techs in their training and then they have to perform each of the procedures."

In addition to this, Weiner has manufacturers come in and talk to the staff about their products. This is one of the requirements she has before choosing products to use in the salon - if they are not willing to come in and educate and demonstrate, they do not get her business.

A Touch of Elegance in the Country

A little more than two years from the inception of her idea, the doors of The Brass Rose Spa & Salon opened in rural Blairstown, N.J. Located in a farming community with a population fewer than 4,000 (but within 40 minutes to an hour from several metropolitan areas), The Brass Rose sits above a historic trail at Paulins Kill river. The brick mansion boasts pillar columns and round storefront-type windows, inscribed with The Brass Rose logo. Upon entering the front door, customers check in at a hotel-inspired counter, complete with four separate stations for check-in, check-out, gift certificates, and future booking.

"It looks as if you are checking into a grand hotel," Weiner explains. "When I was traveling for my other business, I always felt welcome when I finally got to the hotel. I knew that I could check in and go to my room to unpack and take a shower, relax, and get a good night's sleep. So I stole that idea from the hotel industry."

The front section of the salon and spa is 1,200 square feet of elegance and comfort. Opposite the check-in counter, customers find a "boutique" offering unique retail items that are used in the many services the salon has to offer. Double French doors open from the retail environment into the salon, which is decorated in browns and neutrals, with cherry wood and rich umber tones. The downstairs salon houses a hair department with three chairs and two shampoo bowls, as well as two of the custom-built manicure stations, a private pedicure room, and a special nail enhancement room for artificial nail services.

The L-shaped manicure stations were designed with both the client and nail technician in mind - spacious and comfortable with good lighting. Each station is identical, from the running water and the autoclaves, to the inventory inside the drawers, and the procedure manuals. "We keep the stations clean and neat, making the nail tech accountable for the aesthetics and cleanliness. We do the 'white glove test' every day."[PAGEBREAK]

With her clients' privacy in mind, Weiner included a separate room for pedicures, which also is large enough to accommodate dual service for her busier patrons. "We have already had requests for a manicure and pedicure at the same time from business women," notes Weiner. "They want it all done at the same time, because they don't have time to sit down for separate appointments." With the reclining foot spa, aromatherapy, and soft music, this room has become a hit not only with female customers but also with many males who have visited the salon.

Further down the hall is the nail enhancement room, which was designed strictly for artificial nail services. The two stations in here are not equipped with running water, however there is a sink in the room. Just what makes this room so special? "It is a negative-pressure room so when you close the door the entire room is exhausted," "Anything that is in the environment is sucked out of the building and never recycled back into the salon or spa air." To further the odor-free environment, she also chose products accordingly. Adding, "One of the most remarkable things about this room is that there is no odor because of the products we have picked."

Chai and Coconut

Upstairs at The Brass Rose is the spa, where Werner's clients come from miles away to enjoy a variety of specialty spa services in an atmosphere of pure distinction. Clients are escorted up to the baroque-style lounge, where they are served Chai (a specialty blend of tea, spices, honey, and milk) while awaiting one of the many services offered. According to Weiner, the quiet and serene atmosphere "makes clients feel like they just drifted off into another world." Carpeted floors and solid wood doors lend to this feeling of intimacy and privacy.

One of the most popular services, according to Weiner, is the Coconut Cream Pedicure. "It is by far the number-one service that we do," she reveals. "We use a coconut pedi-soak in the foot whirlpool, then part of the service includes using a coconut foot cream, followed by a coconut-scented paraffin - all while they are reclining back in the chair and relaxing."

In addition to the nail stations downstairs, the upstairs spa includes two additional manicure stations (no nail enhancements are performed upstairs), another pedicure room, as well as rooms for body treatments, massages, and facials. There are also two makeup stations and two hair stations (for shampoo, conditioning, and styling only).

"When you come upstairs, it is a retreat," Weiner explains. "We want clients to do their maintenance-type things on another day. A client that comes upstairs is usually coming for two or three services, if not the whole day."

At approximately 2,500 square feet, the upstairs spa does not have enough space to be equipped for coed guests. "We have to have a separate men's day on Tuesdays from noon to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m." Men actually make up 18% of the spa's clientele, and they even have their own menu at The Brass Rose. Weiner attributes the popularity of the spa with men to the privacy of the treatment rooms and the gender neutral color scheme in the salon. (She says that the men who come in love the Coconut Cream Pedicure too!)

A Modern Salon That's All Business

With her business background, it comes as no surprise that Weiner operates her salon like a corporation. Rather than using booth renters to work in the nail department, she uses full-time employees who work on salary rather than commission. The salon provides 100% of the products and equipment that the employees use. And employees are trained to be able to speak intelligently about the products they use -with the incentive of earning a commission on retail.

"There are four levels of nail techs," says Weiner, "and before moving on to the next level, you have to be signed off by the team leader of that department. Salary increases with each level." In addition, Weiner offers her employees eight paid working days off per year, a 401(k) program, and group health insurance. They can even come in to the salon and spa to receive 40% off all products and services.

"Operating this way has created a fabulous sense of team," asserts Weiner. "The clients belong to us all. People are willing to help each other more, and I've found that there is a higher level of motivation to upgrade the services or cover each other. This kind of operation has already begun to pay off for The Brass Rose. In the first eight weeks, almost 2,000 clients have come through the doors. Weiner has already seen the amount of business that she was hoping to see by the end of the second quarter. "We are drawing from a 100-mile radius."

Open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., seven days a week, nail services account for approximately 7% of the total services in both the salon and spa. Retail makes up an­other 25% of the sales in the downstairs salon. "It was a big decision for me to make," says Weiner of her seven days a week schedule, "but my principal target was working women with a disposable income, between the ages of 35 and 55. These women work about 40 to 50 miles from home; they get home late and they want services in the evenings and on weekends."

Conducting the business of the salon as she would a corporation, Weiner employs 24 professional staff (including four nail technicians) and 18 support staff. She even has a vice president of finance, a staffing coordinator, and team leaders for each department.

"Downstairs in the 'basement' are the administrative offices and the booking room," Weiner says. "No phones ring in the salon or spa anywhere. At the reception desk you are not interrupted to book. That’s all being taken care of downstairs. There are three staff members who book and confirm appointments, take down information, answer questions, and answer the toll-free customer line."

The Brass Rose is completely computerized and the 15 stations (which Weiner says look like a telemarketing room) operate off of a central server. The staff can check their schedules, as well as pull up customer information. So even if the technician has not seen a particular client before, the tech will know what services and products the client prefers prior to her appointment.

Weiner takes advantage of her stature in her community to speak with different clubs and appear at events to help propel the salon's name into the forefront with little out-of-pocket expense.

About one month prior to opening the salon and spa, Weiner spent $10,000 on a direct mail campaign consisting of a three-fold brochure, which explained what she would be offering and what future customers could expect. "I went to a printing agency that also did mailings, and I did a brochure saying 'Here we are, we are doing gift certificates and the retail is open, and we will start services in January.' I can't tell you how many thousands of dollars I reaped from this direct mail campaign. It was one of the best marketing tools I had."

With her vision in motion, Weiner has already begun to see the rewards of opening this special salon and spa. "Where I am in terms of services and sales in less than three months is where I had expected to be after six to nine months of being opened," she says. "It's the security that my clients feel when they see the stations and understand the extremes to which we go to keep everything sanitary. We have clients who never before received the type of information that we offer, and it really gives them confidence in our salon. And I really think that this is why the word is spreading so quickly."

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