Vegan Wellness Spa?

Question

I am in the business plan stage of developing a wellness spa/ day spa that uses and sells only vegan/ botanically based products.

I am interested in doing a little market research, so I would like to know personal opinion on whether this is an establishment that would be sought out.

I am in GA and the closest similar spa is in NY. Is this the sort of establishment people will travel to? How far?

Personal opinions welcome...

Just to add...
I have been a massage therapist for 6-7 years and was raised veg. I am going back to school to be an esthetician. My partner is a vegan massage therapist and is in training to become a nutritional counsellor.
We have a combined vision to provide an upscale health spa focusing on projecting and encouraging healthy self-image for our community. We would like to promote an image of beauty that is much more than skin deep and begins with a healthy lifestyle.
Also, I am a rep for a company that makes vegan/kosher botanically based products. The products are not only free of toxic chemicals and animal products or by products, but they work phenomenally well. The thing is, that company is growing tremendously even outside the vegetarian community!
My point being that I know there is a growing draw in the public towards plant based products.
We plan to avail ourselves to the veg community while educating the general public on the health benefits of using veg products

Answer 1

I would certainly come to it. In fact, please email me and tell me what part of GA. I live in Western NC on the GA border. One thing I would like to recommend is that many vegans became that way due to food allergies (in my case, wheat, eggs and soy) so I would recommend foods and products that would accomodate those things. Many vegan diets contain large amounts of soy. My research shows that 90% of the soy in the US had been genetically modified and contains boatloads of questionable stuff. My diet is primarily based on rice, quinoa and beans, and of course, fruits and veggies

Answer 2

Wellness spas are pretty popular these days anyways, Vegan or not. Wile it may a selling point for some people I doubt most will care either way. I would suggest building your business around quality services and marketing that way, and leaving the Vegan products as a side note or sub feature.

Answer 3

I have always wanted to visit a place such as that. I was perusing online and found a juice spa where you go and detox for a week drinking nothing but fresh juices. You relax, swim, get massages, practice yoga and pilates, etc. It's in California and I live in Ohio. :-( Just the airfare alone would have cost me more than the stay at the spa!
I found many places like that out west, but very few this side of the Mississippi. I think it would be a great idea to have one and I do think I'd travel to GA for it! Good luck w/ your idea. :-)

Answer 4

I live overseas in Europe, so I can't help you with a visit, but I doubt that lot of people will be in to this. Most people who really are conserned with these sort of things find the information via different ways and sometimes even try to develop their own stuff which they then just use for themselves. I know I do this for lots of things, while I can find all other stuff at a store which has all these natural products. This store is located approx. 1 mile from my house. There is a beauty salon 2 houses from me, but I NEVER bought anything from them. I'm just not into it, and lots of people I know are the same: they are more content in searching for information and buying the basic parts, mixing and developing it themselves (mixed with their specific criteria and type of body in mind) so that they know what mixture is best for themselves.

So am I. I could buy lots of special "aromatherapy" products pre-made, but I'm not into it. Personally, I have bad experiences with these so called wellness shops which sell it pre-made, since they are much more expensive then buying the ingredients or elements yourself and mixing it at home AND because they are very much focused on SELLING stuff instead of giving advice.
I've been very dissapointed in at least one big shop (Essenza here in Europe) and found it better to do it all by myself anyway after that experience.

Answer 5

I think focusing only on catering to vegans would be recipe for financial ruin. Vegans make up such a minuscule portion of the population that they surely will not exclusively provide you with the revenue needed to sustain your business, much less make it thrive. As a side bar, carrying vegan products would be desireable, but the primary focus should be on the mainstream population as there revenue will drive your business.

Answer 6

of course. i think alot of people would be attracted to it. advertise the crap out of it either way. too bad NYC is closer to me than GA. good luck, you deserve it! :D

Answer 7

Vegans are freaks of nature and I would not want to be around them.