Businessman Wants to Rub Shoppers the Right Way

CNY Business Journal (1996+), Sep 01, 2000 by Allen, Paul

DEWITT-Area mall shoppers will be able to get a little therapeutic stress relief during the upcoming holiday season, thanks to Emilio Mozo, a local businessman who is opening the Feel Good Massage Salon in Shoppingtown Mall on September 15. The business will be located in a kiosk, where licensed massage therapists will perform chair massage on weary shoppers.

The idea to open a chair massage business in the mall came to Mozo in his travels around the country, he says. "I'm a big business traveler and it seems like everywhere I go-airports, trade shows, conference centers-there's always some type of chair massage service. And it works. I do it all the time. So I thought if I could get together with some professional massage therapists-not only ones who are licensed, but also [those who] present themselves in a professional manner-it would work in our market. And that's exactly what I'm doing."

According to Mozo, the prices for a chair massage are $7 for a five-minute massage, $15 for a 15-minute massage, and an additional $5 for a scalp massage. Massage products and gift certificates also will be sold on-site, he says.

Mozo, who also owns Deziner Sunglasses and Cellular Accessories A-Z (which opens in September) in Shoppingtown Mall, says that he is currently working on deals to open up other Feel Good Massage Salons in the area: in Great Northern Mall in Clay and Salmon Run Mall in Watertown. His philosophy of a successful mall business is simple. "If I see a good money-making idea, I throw it out there and see what happens. It either works or it doesn't. As soon as November I comes along, I'll open up the other [Feel Good Massage Salon] locations and play it by ear."

Van Delia, director of the Onondaga School of Therapeutic Massage, says offering chair massages in malls makes a lot of sense, especially around the highstress holiday season. "We need to expose people to the benefits of massage therapy in a way that is nonintrusive and nonthreatening," Delia says. "Chair massage does that. With chair massage, you can reach the masses. People aren't threatened-they don't have to take off their clothes, it's something they can do very quickly, and it's convenient." The usual chair massage session lasts between five and 15 minutes, Delia says.

The cost of stress

According to the International Labour Organization, job stress costs U.S. businesses an estimated $200 billion annually through diminished productivity, compensation claims, absenteeism, health insurance, and direct medical expenses.

In a recent study by the University of Miami's Touch Research Institute, employees were given 15-minute chair massages in their office over a period of five weeks. Results of the study show that immediately after the chair massage, employees had a more heightened sense of alertness, as well as improved productivity. At the end of the five-week period, employees reported markedly reduced job stress.

Delia adds that several major corporations around the world-such as Reebok, Rockwell International, Apple Computers, Merrill Lynch, NBC-TV, Pepsi, Southwest Airlines, and Boeing-are utilizing chair massage in the workplace to help reduce stress and increase job performance.