Living Earth Crafts has created a bespoke solution
for one of its top clients – a convertible foot massage
table. We meet up with Brian Paris to learn more
Spa equipment designers and manufacturers Living Earth Crafts are known for their innovative pieces as well as their customer service, but sometimes, those two qualities intersect, creating products that are truly unique.
Since LEC mills and manufacturers solely within their own factories, they often build products specifically for the resort and hotel groups they do business with. So when Todd Hewitt, assistant vice president of spa for Shangri-La, approached the company about creating a product to expand their foot massage rituals, Living Earth Crafts was ready to act.
“Living Earth Crafts has always been known for our ability to build truly bespoke furniture for our clients,” says Brian Paris, EVP of Living Earth Crafts. “We’ve been experiencing our strongest year ever in international sales, partly because we’ve worked so hard in recent years to deepen our relationships with our customers.”
Hewitt and Paris worked together to strategize on a concept for a foot massage table, which was built specifically for the Asian market, where foot massage is an important part of any spa treatment – often at the beginning of a spa ritual. Hewitt wanted a solution that would allow guests to enjoy a foot soak and massage from the same table as a traditional massage, making the transition from the ritual to the main treatment more seamless for the guest and therapist alike.
“Todd is a unique and brilliant spa strategist – he knows how to deliver exceptional services and is the ideal partner,” says Paris. “It only took a few design sessions, and we started to create this beautiful table, working in harmony with his protocols and service standards.”
The resulting product, created by the Living Earth Crafts design team, is the Pan Pacific Convertible Treatment Table – a versatile, luxurious convertible couch with a plumbed foot soaking tub hidden beneath retractable cushions. The tub easily disappears under the table with the push of a button, meaning that after a foot massage or ritual, guests can relax back on the plush table for the next part of their treatment.
The Pan Pacific also features LEC’s Cloudfill upholstered slipcover; an embedded Caress self-adjusting facecradle; and whisper-quiet height adjustments and electric back-tilt, so it can be used for everything from Chinese foot massage to traditional massage, pedicures and manicures. Upgraded upholstery options are also available, as are flex arms, which allow the table to be used for seated treatments like pedicures.
“This was a piece specifically built for the Asian market, but it’s the perfect example of Living Earth Crafts’ ability to create a bespoke masterpiece for one of the world’s most prolific and highly regarded spa operators,” says Paris.
The product was so successful, Shangri-La is now rolling it out across all its spas around the world. “Living Earth Crafts is my go-to company whenever I need any spa equipment – whether traditional massage tables, pedi chairs or getting them to design something completely new on the market,” says Hewitt. “Their customer service is outstanding, which is what has kept me as a loyal customer after all these years.”
One of the reasons for that exceptional customer service may be that Paris has a unique understanding of the clients’ needs; before becoming a partner in Living Earth Crafts, he sold spa equipment, and before that, he was a Living Earth Crafts client.
“Living Earth Crafts has always been the innovator and listened to my needs,” he explains. “Creating extraordinary solutions has always been in the DNA of the company. As a former spa director, it was vital to have unique, yet reliable furniture for my spa. As a builder and designer, there’s nothing more enjoyable than helping create the perfect spa environment.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2019 issue 4
Editor's letter: Democratic wellness
To truly flourish, the spa industry needs to step outside its comfort zone and reach out to different markets with new and exciting business models, says Katie Barnes
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Boundary-pushing wellness in Iceland, self-care focus at Devarana and Civana’s equine retreat all feature in our spa menu round-up
Interview: Alexandre Cantin
Canada’s Groupe Nordik wants to open 10 nature spas, focusing on bathing and thermotherapy, by 2027. Katie Barnes talks to its VP of growth and strategy
Promotional feature: Starpool - Star quality
Wellness expert, Starpool, is known for offering complete wellness solutions with Italian design flair, enabling operators to create world class treatments and experiences
Training: Covering all bases
Resense joins forces with Lobster Ink to create an online training program for multiple spa roles
Promotional feature: Gharieni
Spa equipment innovator, Gharieni, is partnering with leading spas around the world to showcase its products to clients in real world settings, as CEO, Sammy Gharieni, explains
Research: Positive picture
ISPA’s latest US spa study shows continued growth across key metrics and pinpoints CBD and gen Z as trends. Russell Donaldson reports
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSystems - Cool customer
Rainer Bolsinger, who heads up hotel and spa sales of icelab at Zimmer MedizinSystems, and icelab customer Chenot Group, explain how cryotherapy can be incorporated into your business
Promotional feature: Biologique Recherche - Skin deep
Biologique Recherche has spent the past 40 years developing technology and products to understand the skin on an individual level. Pierre-Louis Delapalme and Rupert Schmid tell Spa Business about the Parisian brand’s latest innovations
Research: On the move
The global physical activity market is now worth US$828bn according to a new GWI study. But what emerging trends do spas need to know about?
Promotional feature: SpaSoft - Onwards & upwards
The enhanced integration between SpaSoft and multiple PMS systems will help your team save time, remove the possibility of human error and create an elevated guest experience
Software: Monetising
How is software helping spas to navigate e-commerce and further monetise their relationship with clients
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
Living Earth Crafts has created a bespoke solution
for one of its top clients – a convertible foot massage
table. We meet up with Brian Paris to learn more
Spa equipment designers and manufacturers Living Earth Crafts are known for their innovative pieces as well as their customer service, but sometimes, those two qualities intersect, creating products that are truly unique.
Since LEC mills and manufacturers solely within their own factories, they often build products specifically for the resort and hotel groups they do business with. So when Todd Hewitt, assistant vice president of spa for Shangri-La, approached the company about creating a product to expand their foot massage rituals, Living Earth Crafts was ready to act.
“Living Earth Crafts has always been known for our ability to build truly bespoke furniture for our clients,” says Brian Paris, EVP of Living Earth Crafts. “We’ve been experiencing our strongest year ever in international sales, partly because we’ve worked so hard in recent years to deepen our relationships with our customers.”
Hewitt and Paris worked together to strategize on a concept for a foot massage table, which was built specifically for the Asian market, where foot massage is an important part of any spa treatment – often at the beginning of a spa ritual. Hewitt wanted a solution that would allow guests to enjoy a foot soak and massage from the same table as a traditional massage, making the transition from the ritual to the main treatment more seamless for the guest and therapist alike.
“Todd is a unique and brilliant spa strategist – he knows how to deliver exceptional services and is the ideal partner,” says Paris. “It only took a few design sessions, and we started to create this beautiful table, working in harmony with his protocols and service standards.”
The resulting product, created by the Living Earth Crafts design team, is the Pan Pacific Convertible Treatment Table – a versatile, luxurious convertible couch with a plumbed foot soaking tub hidden beneath retractable cushions. The tub easily disappears under the table with the push of a button, meaning that after a foot massage or ritual, guests can relax back on the plush table for the next part of their treatment.
The Pan Pacific also features LEC’s Cloudfill upholstered slipcover; an embedded Caress self-adjusting facecradle; and whisper-quiet height adjustments and electric back-tilt, so it can be used for everything from Chinese foot massage to traditional massage, pedicures and manicures. Upgraded upholstery options are also available, as are flex arms, which allow the table to be used for seated treatments like pedicures.
“This was a piece specifically built for the Asian market, but it’s the perfect example of Living Earth Crafts’ ability to create a bespoke masterpiece for one of the world’s most prolific and highly regarded spa operators,” says Paris.
The product was so successful, Shangri-La is now rolling it out across all its spas around the world. “Living Earth Crafts is my go-to company whenever I need any spa equipment – whether traditional massage tables, pedi chairs or getting them to design something completely new on the market,” says Hewitt. “Their customer service is outstanding, which is what has kept me as a loyal customer after all these years.”
One of the reasons for that exceptional customer service may be that Paris has a unique understanding of the clients’ needs; before becoming a partner in Living Earth Crafts, he sold spa equipment, and before that, he was a Living Earth Crafts client.
“Living Earth Crafts has always been the innovator and listened to my needs,” he explains. “Creating extraordinary solutions has always been in the DNA of the company. As a former spa director, it was vital to have unique, yet reliable furniture for my spa. As a builder and designer, there’s nothing more enjoyable than helping create the perfect spa environment.”
Read more from this issue of Attractions Management magazine
View contents of Attractions Management 2019 issue 4
Editor's letter: Democratic wellness
To truly flourish, the spa industry needs to step outside its comfort zone and reach out to different markets with new and exciting business models, says Katie Barnes
Spa Programmes: On the menu
Boundary-pushing wellness in Iceland, self-care focus at Devarana and Civana’s equine retreat all feature in our spa menu round-up
Interview: Alexandre Cantin
Canada’s Groupe Nordik wants to open 10 nature spas, focusing on bathing and thermotherapy, by 2027. Katie Barnes talks to its VP of growth and strategy
Promotional feature: Starpool - Star quality
Wellness expert, Starpool, is known for offering complete wellness solutions with Italian design flair, enabling operators to create world class treatments and experiences
Training: Covering all bases
Resense joins forces with Lobster Ink to create an online training program for multiple spa roles
Promotional feature: Gharieni
Spa equipment innovator, Gharieni, is partnering with leading spas around the world to showcase its products to clients in real world settings, as CEO, Sammy Gharieni, explains
Research: Positive picture
ISPA’s latest US spa study shows continued growth across key metrics and pinpoints CBD and gen Z as trends. Russell Donaldson reports
Promotional feature: Zimmer MedizinSystems - Cool customer
Rainer Bolsinger, who heads up hotel and spa sales of icelab at Zimmer MedizinSystems, and icelab customer Chenot Group, explain how cryotherapy can be incorporated into your business
Promotional feature: Biologique Recherche - Skin deep
Biologique Recherche has spent the past 40 years developing technology and products to understand the skin on an individual level. Pierre-Louis Delapalme and Rupert Schmid tell Spa Business about the Parisian brand’s latest innovations
Research: On the move
The global physical activity market is now worth US$828bn according to a new GWI study. But what emerging trends do spas need to know about?
Promotional feature: SpaSoft - Onwards & upwards
The enhanced integration between SpaSoft and multiple PMS systems will help your team save time, remove the possibility of human error and create an elevated guest experience
Software: Monetising
How is software helping spas to navigate e-commerce and further monetise their relationship with clients
Hotel de France, located on the British Isle of Jersey, has created a wellness retreat package
that includes a hot yoga session that will take place in Jersey Zoo’s butterfly sanctuary.
A new immersive attraction designed to transport visitors into the final hours of ancient Pompeii
is preparing to open near the world-famous archaeological site in southern Italy.
Experience design company, BRC Imagination Arts, has completed a transition that sees founder
Bob Rogers pass ownership of the business to four long-serving senior executives, while
remaining actively involved with the company.
Movie Park Germany has opened a new Paramount Pictures-themed attraction as part of its 30th
anniversary celebrations, using immersive storytelling and adaptive reuse to reinforce the park’s
longstanding “Hollywood in Germany” positioning.
Therme Manchester’s 28-acre development, which will include interconnected glass pavilions
that measure 65,000sq m, will be the largest bathing and wellbeing attraction in the world once
complete, according to prof David Russell, CEO of Therme UK.
Efteling has opened Hooghmoed, a new family drop tower designed to broaden the appeal of its
recently launched Sirene Island themed area and introduce younger visitors to thrill attractions.
A proposed Puy du Fou development near Bicester and Universal Destinations and Experiences’
planned resort in Bedford are emerging as part of a wider transformation of the Oxford–
Cambridge Growth Corridor into a major centre for UK leisure and tourism inv
Shedd Aquarium has opened the Immersion Theater developed in partnership with SimEx-
Iwerks, as part of a wider strategy to enhance the guest experience and create additional
revenue opportunities.
The UK government has announced a temporary reduction in VAT on visitor attractions and
children’s meals as part of a summer cost-of-living support package designed to stimulate the
visitor economy and encourage family days out.
As designer Yinka Ilori prepares for his first solo gallery show in London, he speaks exclusively
to CLADmag about his mission to spread joy, the power of play, and his bold approach to using
colour (including the colours you won’t see in his work).
The government of Thailand is exploring plans for a THB300bn (£6.3bn, US$8.3bn)
entertainment complex in the country’s Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), with officials
proposing a large-scale theme park and sports destination as part of a broader tourism and
economic development strategy.
+ More news
COMPANY PROFILES
TechnoAlpin Indoor TechnoAlpin is the world leader for snowmaking systems. With the Indoor snow division, TechnoAlpin c [more...]
Clip 'n Climb Clip ‘n Climb currently offers facility owners and
investors more than 40 colourful and unique
Cha [more...]
Alterface Alterface’s Creative Division team is
seasoned in concept and ride development,
as well as storyte [more...]
IDEATTACK IDEATTACK is a full-service planning and
design company with headquarters in
Los Angeles. [more...]
An opportunity to reimagine one of the UK’s most recognisable towers has been formally
opened by Rivington Hark, as St Johns Beacon invites operators and partners to shape its
next phase. [more...]
