Local Mom and Career Woman Wins Hand & Stone’s Hardest Working Person in America Contest

Chosen by Fan Votes on Facebook, Joanne Vadas Wins Free Massages for a Year from Hand & Stone

In a nationwide contest hosted by the 30-plus unit massage and facial spa Hand & Stone, Howell, New Jersey mom, caregiver and nurse, Joanne Vadas, was named “Hardest Working Person in America.” Nominated by her daughter Natalie, Joanne’s story captured the hearts of Hand & Stone fans nationwide, who voted her story the most compelling in the nationwide Facebook contest. As winner, Joanne Vadas will receive free massages for an entire year at Hand & Stone’s Spring Lake location for her selfless giving and hardworking character.

Natalie’s nomination stated, “My mom, Joanne, is the hardest working person I know. My father passed away last year from malignant melanoma so for the past two years my mother has been consumed with not only taking care of him for his last few months, but now she is working so very hard to keep this household afloat. She is a nurse in a dermatologist office, and she is on her feet all day-- with one knee replaced and the other needing to be replaced any day now (which she would, except she cannot afford to take the time off of work). She does everything for everyone, but never anything for herself.”

Natalie Vadas’ nomination was one of seven heart-felt nominations selected to move to the final round, where Hand & Stone’s Facebook fans voted on the nominations to determine the winner. Joanne Vadas was announced the winner on Monday, Sept. 20, 2010. The 2nd place winner is Jean Sable of Phoenix, AZ.

“I am amazed, awe struck. I was completely unaware about Natalie (Joanne’s daughter) signing me up for the contest,” said Joanne Vadas. “It came as quite a surprise just how many people had nice things to say and showed their support for me.”

Hand & Stone’s “Hardest Working Person in America” contest was designed to build individualized and personalized connections with would be and established members alike.

“Especially in trying economic times, Americans are forced to work harder and longer hours,” said Todd Leff, CEO of Hand & Stone. “We wanted to hear our member’s stories, as well as the stories of their friends and families, and then reward them with a little relaxation.”

The contest launched Hand & Stone’s social presence and built individualized and personalized connections with their Facebook fans and educated fans about Hand & Stone’s services.

“While the typical massage client used to have to track down a freelance masseuse, schedule an appointment days in advance, and pay over $100 for a one-hour treatment, most Hand & Stone clients book their appointments on the same day as service and pay 30 percent less than the traditional hourly rate,” said Leff, noting that when they sign up for a one-session-per-month plan, they end up paying just $49 per visit.

As massage spas become more mainstream in the health care industry, Hand & Stone stays at the top of the game by adding locations and services to keep the brand fresh. That strategy has proven to be successful, as the addition of facials and waxing to the services roster has boosted the average store sales by over 20 percent during this past year, in a very tough economic environment. Hand and Stone expects to open 15 new locations currently under construction by the year end.

"Most of our franchisees have no massage experience, they are just business people who understand that this industry is ripe for growth and love the fact that we are providing a positive health related service," Leff said. "Twenty-two percent of Americans got a massage last year, and that figure is growing. As massage becomes a more integrated part of health care, we see this business achieving even wider-spread growth and longevity."

Hand & Stone Attends Taste of Hunter’s Creek Saturday

Continuing to ingrain oneself in the local community, Hand & Stone will be attending a Taste of Hunter’s Creek to provide their service to the community. This will be a fun community event to get to know your local businesses and Hand & Stone will be participating to visit with existing members and new community members.

Here is a link to more details about the upcoming event this week:
http://www.fusionsigns.biz/art/TasteHC/hc_ad_10x5.pdf

How Hand & Stone Adjusted to the New Economy

Bob McQuillan, Vice President of Franchise Development for Hand & Stone

Over the past two years, the state of franchising has changed quite a bit. Positively, a new report just released by the U.S. Census says that 10.5% of U.S. businesses are franchises, which indicates a large percentage of people are still continuing to turn to franchising. However, the tightened credit crisis has been the main contributor to the change in the franchising industry, but Hand & Stone is doing some innovative things to keep growing amidst a tough economy.

From the franchise level, we’ve gone back to basics. We are developing and leveraging strategic relationships in the franchise industry to help foster the growth of our business. We are turning to business coaches (franchise brokers) to help bridge the relationship with prospective franchisees, and we work very closely with them to get their clients into our system.

One of the negative effects of the economy has been the ability for a franchisee to get financed in a new business. We (the franchisor) are pulling out all the stops for franchisees – leasing arrangements, home equity loans, and 401k rollover programs are some of the ways that we are helping aid first-time business owners in the process, and thus, we’ve been fortunate to recruit a very sophisticated group of franchisees.

Additionally, Hand & Stone is experiencing a very positive effect from corporate America down-sizing, as we are seeing more qualified prospective franchisees with a very sophisticated set of skills that enables them to be a perfect fit for our type of business. As companies continue to offer early retirement packages or downsize their current workforce, companies like Hand & Stone will be a good place for them to turn to and utilize those skill sets.

Hand & Stone Featured in Orlando and Tampa Business Journals

Hand & Stone was recently featured in The Orlando Business Journal in an article entitled “Spa franchise opening 6 new area locations, adding 150 new jobs”. The article was also published by The Tampa Business Journal. The story focuses on Hand & Stone’s expansion and continued growth throughout central Florida, and it also announces Hand & Stone’s intentions of bringing on new franchisees to be owner/operators. A portion of the article can be found below and the full article can be viewed here.

Hand & Stone sets target of 20 sites statewide
by Melanie Stawicki Azam

A New Jersey-based massage and facial spa franchise is looking to go from two Tampa Bay locations — one in St. Petersburg and another in Palm Harbor — to as many as 10 in the next two year.

Hand & Stone also is looking to grow in Southwest Florida, between Sarasota and Naples, and the company is working to triple its Central Florida locations during the next two years. It is targeting Winter Park, Dr. Phillips, Clermont, Waterford Lakes, downtown Orlando and Melbourne in Central Florida.

A new franchisee is opening the Dr. Phillips location in the first quarter of 2011, said Rob Beers, regional development director. Hand & Stone is seeking entrepreneurs for the other sites.

(Read More)

Meet Our Florida Regional Developer, Rob Beers

How Rob Got Started With Hand & Stone…

Prior to signing on with Hand & Stone, Rob worked with and owned a few different businesses in the real estate industry and sports memorabilia market. He owned a different franchise focusing on specialty sports & celebrity retail and collector’s items for 11 years, gaining extensive knowledge in franchising and business ownership. He also has served as director for a small real estate firm in the Washington DC area since 2000.
A year before Rob sold his memorabilia franchise, he decided he wanted to look for another growing industry; the next big player in franchising. Rob not only wanted to own a franchise location but he also wanted to get involved in the growth aspect of the business and play a larger part in building a brand nationwide.

After searching for a year, Rob discovered Hand & Stone, which had just been introduced to the franchising world, having only two locations at the time. Seeing that the brand had tremendous growth potential, a superior, quality product, and a strong executive team, Rob felt that Hand & Stone would be a great concept to expand throughout Florida. Rob signed on as the Regional Developer for Central & Southwest Florida and opened his own franchise in October 2008 in Kissimmee.

Something Interesting About Rob’s Story…

As the Regional Developer for Central Florida, Rob has been responsible for adding four more Hand & Stone spas in his market; Lake Mary, Palm Harbor, St. Petersburg, and Winter Springs. Two more will be opening in the Orlando market in the next six months. Focusing on growing the brand throughout Central Florida, Rob plans to develop 10-15 new locations in the cities of Orlando, Tampa, Sarasota, Ft Myers and Naples. Passionate about the brand, Rob has taken an active role in providing support to his fellow franchisees in the Central Florida region and focuses on creating a team environment.

Where Specifically Did Rob Learn About Hand & Stone?

Rob started to research various franchises while investing in a real estate company. Rob searched through the internet, spoke with existing franchisees and researched concepts from top to bottom for an entire year. After his year of searching, he felt that Hand & Stone was exactly the opportunity that he was looking for and outmatched all competing brands that he looked into. Although it was a risk at the time, he believed in the concept and was passionate about spearheading the brand’s growth in Florida.