Spa’s move is stress-free

Typically, when a local company expands, the process is hectic and stressful. But tranquil Spa Gregorie’s wouldn’t hear of such chaos.

The well-known day spa opened the doors of its new Rancho Santa Margarita location this spring after what retail marketing manager Jennifer Hulsey says was “a really smooth transition to the new location.”

The new spa opened for business the very same day the location was acquired.

After all, said Spa Gregorie’s general manager Scott Duncan, the company simply “took the existing facility, which was a day spa, and added to the great staff and services.”

Spa Gregorie’s has been waiting for an expansion opportunity such as the Rancho Santa Margarita site for a long time. In fact, six years ago Duncan and Spa Gregorie’s owner, Angela Cortright, considered building on the very spot where the new spa is, but decided not to.

“Demographics weren’t that good six years ago, and that’s all changed now,” Duncan said. He emphasizes the ideal location of the new spa: “It’s close enough to Newport so we manage it, but not so close that we cannibalize it.”

The Rancho Santa Margarita location offers a medley of spa treatments, from facials and manicures to massages and body peels. There are special treatments for pregnant women, large groups and men.

But that’s not all. Duncan and Hulsey are excited about the company’s plans for the new spa, which will have its grand opening in October if everything goes according to plan.

“We’re going to put on a huge event, a huge grand opening, and it will be married to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation,” Hulsey said.

Duncan added Spa Gregorie’s grand opening will include food and drinks, tours, gift bags, vendors and photo studios. The spa will invite clients, staff and members of Greet the Day, a nonprofit effort started by Spa Gregorie’s, which treats cancer patients to special spa treatments.

The Rancho Santa Margarita site is smaller than the original Newport Beach spa, with just six treatment rooms to Newport’s 17. The new spa awaits the construction of a quiet room, four more treatment rooms and an expanded ladies’ locker room ? things that Newport already has.

Duncan said the two locations will ultimately have different ambiences.

He pointed out that “Newport has a tranquil, enveloping, relaxing, dim feel with an Italian undertone. It’s larger but very quaint. It’s a great place for high-profile people to sneak in and sneak out.”

When all is said and done, Duncan said, “the Rancho Santa Margarita spa will have a much more communal, open-air feel, with Moroccan undertones. The interior space is really beautiful.”dpt.03-bizspot-C.1PhotoInfoJI1SIN0P20060703j1sy1kncMARK DUSTIN / DAILY PILOT(LA)Massage Therapist Kerrigan Stretch gives fellow massage therapist Shane Sherman a brief neck rub in one of the therapy rooms at Spa Gregorie’s.