“Dwell time”—airport terminology for the amount of time a passenger spends waiting before or between flights—has increased significantly since 9/11. As of 2007, the average dwell time for travelers at New York’s JFK was a whopping two hours and 16 minutes. The silver lining to this phenomenon is that airports are now becoming more like malls, complete with good food and an array of shopping and personal amenities.
This is great news for entrepreneurs like Marisol Binn, who, with her husband, Moreton, launched XpresSpa in 2003, a chain of 34 airport spas located in the US and abroad. Seven years ago, there was a Phillip Morris smoking lounge at JFK, but after the state banned smoking in public areas, the Binns leased the location and started a trend that “replaced an unhealthy habit with a healthy one,” says Marisol. XpresSpa offers massages, manicures, pedicures, waxing, facials, reflexology and much more.
Today the company continues its growth worldwide, with plans to reach 40 full-service spas by December 2011. Some of the newer locations will be co-branded with Regis Corporation, a multi billion-dollar publicly traded firm. The first XpresSpa/Regis partnership will launch in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport at the end of this year; it will be the largest XpresSpa to date, offering comprehensive haircare services in addition to the company’s standard treatments. In fact, the venture has proven so successful that airports are asking XpresSpa to open two or three locations at a time. JFK has six; New York’s LaGuardia, Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol have two apiece; San Francisco has two already with two more on the way in 2011; and the list grows. Good news for LA locals: The company was recently awarded space at LAX.
XpresSpa also boasts a wide selection of branded travel-and spa-related products in addition to facial and skin-care offerings. All services are provided in the spa’s Signature Massage Loungers, in which customers can recline, relax and enjoy the experience. “In this fast-paced world, people need to recharge,” says Moreton.
So what’s the most popular treatment? The foot massage. “A good foot massage has an effect on your whole body,” says Marisol. Possibly too good an effect: Clients sometimes doze off and need a gentle reminder the treatment is over—and their plane is boarding. Visit xpresspa.com.
