Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa’s Strong 2019 Growth Positions It As A Standout in the Health and Wellness Category

TREVOSE, Penn. — Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa has been providing luxury services and experiences to loyal customers since its inception in 2004. In the years since, Hand & Stone has tailored its offerings and quickly become the premier massage and facial spa brand in the category, with over 450 locations in the United States and Canada. Thanks to its membership-based business model, unparalleled franchisee support and strong performance metrics, Hand & Stone has been able to significantly rise in the ranks.

In terms of growth, Hand & Stone enjoyed a particularly strong year in 2019. The massage and facial spa franchise signed 55 new franchise agreements.

**Additionally, in 2019, Hand & Stone opened 51 new locations, bringing its grand total to 453 locations spanning the United States and Canada. Thanks to this solid growth momentum, Hand & Stone is on track to achieve a notable milestone in 2020: opening its 500th spa. “Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa experienced a solid year in 2019, in terms of growth,” the brand’s Vice President of Franchise Development Bob McQuillan said.

“We’re always so thrilled to sign new franchises and bring them into our family. We believe people in every community deserve a rejuvenating and individually tailored spa experience, and it’s amazing to sign new franchisees who also believe that. We plan to build on this growth from 2019 in order to really hit the ground running in 2020.

We are well on our way to achieve the 500-unit mark.”

Hand & Stone’s exciting year included significant industry recognition from industry stalwarts. The brand received the following accolades in 2019: It was ranked No. 151 in the Franchise 500 as well as No. 1 in the spa category by Entrepreneur Magazine; No. 177 in the Franchise Times Top 200+; No. 20 in the Franchise Times Fast & Serious List for the smartest-growing brands; and last but certainly not least, ranked No. 8 on Forbes’ Best Franchises to Buy list.

**McQuillan attributed Hand & Stone’s slew of industry accolades to several factors, including strong leadership, intentional marketing and a focus on skincare. “Hand & Stone’s leadership team is chock-full of franchise industry veterans—from CEO Todd Leff, to Chief Marketing Officer Jack Bachinsky, to Vice President of Real Estate Development Kris Smith and myself—we have over 250 combined years of experience in the franchising business,” he said. “This gives the company a ton of credibility and really puts us in a position to succeed.

Additionally, our success can be attributed to our ‘intentional’ marketing techniques. We leverage targeted social media campaigns that have allowed us to bolster significant interest from the female demographic, as a high percentage of our clients are females who follow a lot of beauty and influencer accounts.”

**Aside from strong leadership and marketing, Hand & Stone has benefited immensely from shifting its focus from massage-only services to include skincare in the past several years. Skincare is the fastest growing segment, thereby making it an important source of revenue for the brand, according to McQuillan. The brand found that offering skincare services drives more traffic to their locations, aiding in their continued success.

“Years ago, the direction we wanted to go in was, ‘to be the premier provider of facials in the industry’ and we achieved just that: There is not another franchise in the country that does what we do and at our level,” McQuillan said.

With all of this in play, it’s safe to say that Hand & Stone has the infrastructure in place to hit 500 units—and more—in 2020.

Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa’s 2020 goals include achieving significant growth. The brand has identified Indiana, Nebraska, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Nevada, Alabama, Oklahoma, Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Arizona, Tennessee, Michigan and South Carolina in addition to Western Canada as key target markets for development in 2020.

Hand & Stone is actively looking for qualified franchise candidates to help grow its footprint. “Hand & Stone is a very consumer-centric brand, so our main priority is recruiting the best franchisees possible,” McQuillan said. “It allows us to create and build a sense of passion with everyone involved with the brand.”

Hand & Stone is a nearly 450-unit spa franchise with a mission to bring massage and facial services to the masses. Launched in 2004 by passionate physical therapist John Marco and now led by franchise veteran Todd Leff, Hand & Stone now has locations in 30 states and Canada. For more information on Hand & Stone, visit www.handandstone.com. For more information on Hand & Stone’s franchising opportunities, visit **