SAN FRANCISCO — Origins launched its first Walk-in Wellness center at Macy’s Union Square this week. Set in the ground-floor cosmetics and fragrance department just inside the store’s Stockton Street entrance, the 300-square-foot department offers a menu of multisensory treatments, facials and mood boosters.
The hands-on services selection includes Knead it Now neck and back massage, which goes for $15 for 15 minutes, and the Heads Up head and scalp massage.
“Origins has always had a focus on wellness and on multisensory treatments,” said Daria Myers, president of Origins, which is owned by the Estée Lauder Cos. “Macy’s West has done so well with services — like the BeneFit Brow Bar — that we felt this was a good fit for us.”
The concept appears to have taken off. Soon after the space’s soft opening nearly two weeks ago, the center was bustling and three masseurs and four facialists performed more than 40 massage treatments and other services on Nov. 5. There was an official opening event last Thursday.
“Our concept was to make rejuvenating treatments accessible to everyone for a low cost,” said Joellen Bradford, vice president of global marketing for Origins. She noted the entry price point for services is $15. “This has been an effective way to introduce new customers to Origins products,” she added. “The early product-to-service ratio is about 50-50.”
The department offers a space-age Gloom-Away isolation chamber, which offers vibration, light and sound therapy in a stress-relief capsule that’s said to fight jet lag and stress. That, like the Knead it Now massage, is $15 for 15 minutes.
“We introduced new concepts in San Francisco because it’s a place where people are open to new ideas and treatments like this,” Bradford contended. “In our first week, more than 25 percent of customers are men — triple our usual percentage.”
Estée Lauder group companies do not report figures, so Myers did not offer any projections for the new Walk-in Wellness center. Industry sources, however, estimated the space could generate upwards of $500,000 within its first year.
Customers can book appointments or drop in while shopping.
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After sipping complimentary Origins A Perfect World white tea, clients can request an acupressure facial, called Press Release. There’s also the Up the Anti facial with white tea and the Light Makes Right blemish-removing treatment. All services are conducted by aestheticians using Origins Beauty Wellness products. Facial beds and massage chairs were custom-designed for Origins and crafted in Japan. Japanese shoji screens surround the area. Maple wall fixtures and a pale beige color scheme add to the relaxing atmosphere.
The new Origins Walk-in Wellness center is also introducing Origins’ Cocoa Therapy Collection of body butters, salves, a body-buffing scrub and a cleanser, which include therapeutic cocoa extracts, cocoa butter and pure cocoa among its ingredients. Post-massage, customers can stock up on Sensory Therapy Hot Chocolate Original drink mix, with added vitamins and minerals, which Origins claims will help fight fatigue and incite feelings of euphoria. Additionally, Origins is teaming up with Andrew Weil, M.D., an internationally recognized authority on integrative medicine, as product collaborator and spokesman for a wellness product line slated to launch in late 2005.
Origins products are carried in more than 425 department and specialty retail stores in the U.S. and more than 125 of its own freestanding Origins retail stores.