Sock Hop or Spa Hop

Pub crawls? Every town has those at some point—those are old news. Even themed pub crawls seem outdated compared to what the Glen Ellyn Downtown Alliance planned for a group outing. She called it a Spa Hop, but Carol White of the Alliance really just wanted to find something to promote wellness among residents and enhance the community spirit around town.

The threat of a -20 wind chill wasn’t enough to keep some ladies away from a bustling downtown Glen Ellyn on Tuesday afternoon and evening. In an attempt to boost the local economy, the Glen Ellyn Downtown Alliance organized 11 local salons and spas to participate in a spa hop.

“It really came to me on a whim,” said White, “the turnout was nothing like we imagined.”

White explained that over 177 women participated in the event, booking a total of over 250 appointments at local salons and spas.

“The participating salons have a HUGE range of products and services and we wanted to be sure that people know about them,” White said.

Among the participating salons and spas were Salon Estem, Escape Salon & Spa, Namaste, Skin Solutions, Cheveaux, Teas & Toes, Jazz, Cosmo’s Beauty Bar, The Pilates Experience, Shear Pandemonia, and Linea. Each salon had designated a few services to be offered at a minimal price. Participants followed the e-mailed link to the website, where they made up to two appointments each and paid a small deposit. After that, they were just required to show up to their appointments, enjoy their scheduled services and took home a “swag bag” from their salons. The bags were filled with goodies such as product samples and service discounts.

“We had attendees from Lisle, Wheaton, La Grange and Elmhurst among others," White said, "so it wasn’t strictly relegated to Glen Ellyn residents.”

One such participant from Elmhurst, Linda Weber said in an email, “I came from Elmhurst for the spa treatments. I was in and out of the treatments in a half hour. But I spent another two hours (and a total of $280) in Glen Ellyn!”

Weber’s visit included stops at four other downtown stores and lunch at Honey Café, on Main Street. “I had icicles forming on my car, I was there shopping so long!” She said.

Salon Estem co-owner Sharon Greider explained how they became involved:

“The Alliance sent out the newsletter and we thought it would be great exposure. It’s a great way to let people know what we’re about,” she said.

According to Greider, the salons were responsible for creating their own “swag bags” as take-aways for Spa Hop participants. “That part was a bit difficult—nobody really gives out samples anymore.”

Somehow they managed to put together some great items for participants including samples of hair treatments, gift certificates and individualized coupons.

Teas and Toes, on Main Street, is a loose tea retailer that specializes in herbal foot soaks and reflexology. Long-time employee and reflexologist John Kammes laughed at the initial impressions of the store.

“I don’t even know how many people we had to turn away because they came in looking for pedicures when we first opened,” he said. He went on to explain that the store owner deciding these events are a great way to inform people of what they do. For the Spa Hop, they had 17 appointments booked throughout the day and the reflexologist on duty was Victor, one of three on staff. In addition, tea samplings were laid out and Kammes offered education on brewing techniques.

Participants came out for different reasons. Glen Ellyn resident Heather Carlson stated, “I decided that I deserved a treat, so I met up with my girlfriends and we decided to check out different spas and services. It’s been great!”

The future looks good for more Spa Hop events in Glen Ellyn.

“The feedback on this first-time event has been outstanding,” said White. “Many people have said that they got to explore the services offered, it was low-risk/high reward because it was so inexpensive. Participants got to enjoy our downtown and many, such as Ms. Weber, spent money in non-participating stores as well.”

Of future hopes for this event, White stated,” We created a new scheduling system specifically for this event, it is definitely open to improvements. We’re looking to possibly add confirmation e-mails and maybe even expand the available services. We’re definitely looking to be more successful next year.”

Ms. White’s biggest excitement now is rallying people to attend the Couples Night Out event that she’s planning. It’s currently scheduled for Friday, April 29th from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

“Mark your calendars and keep your eyes peeled for updates,” she added.