NEWS — JANUARY - FEBRUARY 2007
MEDICAL SPA NEWS
Acquisitions, Expansion Plans, Franchises, Etc.
Acara Partners: On February 2nd, the CEO of Acara Partners (Branford CT) announced its "national consolidation strategy" for the U.S. medical spa market. The primary goal is to establish a national brand using Acara MedSpas' (a division of Acara Partners) management capabilities. Recently, the Company completed a successful financial turnaround for a bankrupt chain of 37 medical spas, which is now generating annualized revenues of $18.0 million. The new venture will focus on identifying and acquiring "top medical spas."
Ideal Image: In the past three years, Ideal Image (Tampa FL) has grown from a single wholly owned facility and two franchised clinics to a network of 60 branded facilities. Slower expansion is forecast for 2007 as the parent company, Ideal Image Development Corporation, addresses staff issues that have been problematic at new locations in the St. Louis market. The previous plan of expanding to 100 clinics by the end of 2006 has been scaled down to establish a total of 80 locations by year-end 2007. While medical spas provide a range of aesthetic services, Ideal Image clinics focus exclusively on laser hair removal with annual revenues that range from $900,000 to $1.5 million.
MedSpas of America Inc.: Founded in 1997 by practitioners and business executives, MedSpas of America (Atlanta GA) has recently revitalized its wholly owned subsidiary, Virtuoso MedSpas Inc. The medical spa model includes a 2,000 square foot spa space that is located in a retail shopping area. Facilities are leased to business owners/operators who will offer non-invasive cosmetic procedures that are supervised by medical staff. Virtuoso has been chosen to be profiled regularly on the StockGuru.com site, which provides daily alerts, executive interviews, and financial news.
Solana MedSpas: In a "State of the Medical Spa Industry" press release, the CEO and founder of Solana MedSpas (Irvine CA) offered an overview of the factors that drive the market: consumer demand, demographics, historical perspectives, etc. Solana MedSpas is described as "the nation's leader in Medspa development, with 116 locally branded Medspas open or opening in 30 states." The main point of the presentation is that the industry is "in its infancy," explaining why there is huge potential for market growth but relatively limited success for many medical spa facilities.
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