Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa Franchisees and Regional Developers Rob and Alicia Beers Are Supporting Peers Through Difficult Climate

Like so many of their franchising peers, Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa franchisees Rob and Alicia Beers are navigating the effects that COVID-19 has had on business.

What’s more is that they are also helping their peers in an official capacity. In addition to owning and operating one franchise with the health and wellness brand, the Beers are also regional developers, which means they are guiding other franchisees in the central Florida region and working to help them reopen on the other side of COVID-19.

Early on during COVID-19, the Beers started doing weekly conference calls with franchisees in the region to review a host of topics and share information and best practices. They focused on preserving the spas, protecting employees and providing an open table for communication amongst franchisees.

Regional support efforts

“We have a fantastic group of franchisees who provided some really valuable feedback that helped everyone,” Rob said. “It was really a collaborative effort, and it helped as everyone navigated the unemployment situation and the federal loan program.”

The Beers first signed on to franchise with Hand & Stone in May of 2007. Prior to franchising with Hand & Stone, they were with another franchise concept for 10 years. They loved the concept of franchising and, impressed by the exploding business that was Massage Envy, decided to look at companies in the massage segment. Back then, Hand & Stone was just three years old, and the Beers liked the idea of joining a young brand. Today, the Beers support 37 locations in their region.

The Beers are partnering with the brand at an opportune time. Hand & Stone may have more than 450 units across the United States and Canada, with 62 locations alone in Florida, but the brand still has plenty of availability territory and is specifically targeting the following cities for expansion: Las Vegas; Reno, Nevada; New Orleans; Rochester and Buffalo, New York; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Omaha, Nebraska; Louisville, Kentucky; and Albuquerque, New Mexico. Reasons to franchise with Hand & Stone include a focus on health and wellness, strong corporate support and a membership model that provides franchisees with recurring revenue.

Franchise growth and interest

The Beers are helping the corporate team gauge franchisee interest in Florida and acting as a point of contact for prospective franchisees in the Sunshine State. They are seeing continued interest in the brand even during COVID-19, which speaks volumes of the competitive franchise opportunity.

“The good news is that although a good chunk of Florida has been developed, the state still has markets available and a good degree of people interested in the franchise opportunity,” Rob said. “The most difficult part of our conversations with prospective franchisees is that we may not have the territories they want available for sale.”

Hand & Stone has also proved itself as a supportive franchisor during COVID-19 by providing enhanced communication between the leadership team and the franchise system, resources and guidance for franchisees on preserving cash flow, and social media and blog content aimed at keeping customers engaged.

The Hand & Stone leadership team is certainly grateful to have franchisees and regional developers like the Beers on board.

“It’s imperative to the Hand & Stone leadership team that franchisees feel nothing less than 100% supported, especially during a time like this, and that is done, in part, thanks to franchisees and regional developers like Rob and Alicia,” Vice President of Franchise Development Bob McQuillan said. “This strong support is precisely why people opt to franchise instead of going into business by themselves, and at Hand & Stone, we’re working hard every day to prove to our franchisees why they made the best decision when they chose to franchise with us.”