16 Dec 2014
WTS International teams up with hair experts Paul Labrecque
BY Helen Andrews
Global spa and leisure consultancy WTS International has teamed up with luxury hair care brand Paul Labrecque (PLB) to provide customers of spas in five-star destinations with expert hair treatments.
While most spa management companies do not have expertise in the area of hair care, WTS has identified this as an area with significant potential for growth in the spa industry.
The Paul Labrecque brand has been selected to serve as WTS’ salon experts due to its worldwide appeal and reputation. This tie-up follows the success of the recently launched Rittenhouse Hotel in Philadelphia, US, where the two companies collaborated on a 3,000sq ft (279sq m) Paul Labrecque Salon.
“We partnered with PLB at The Rittenhouse Spa and Club at the suggestion of the hotel's brand's consultant,” said Susie Hammer, vice president of spa operations at WTS. “After working with them to open that facility, we were impressed with their quality of service and operating model so we decided it would be mutually beneficial for us to partner on additional spa/salon opportunities.”
There will be three levels of partnership for WTS, PLB and the proposed facility owner – each of which utilises a specific set of services developed by the hair care brand.
The first level involves exclusivity for PLB in product retail sales at specific WTS-managed spas, even if the facility does not have a salon.
The second level gives PLB hair care product exclusivity again at WTS-managed spas, but the hair brand will also develop the hair care treatment menu for the property. The PLB team will teach the WTS staff the hair treatments and the salon menu will read ‘Salon Services by PLB’.
The third level of partnership gives the hair brand product exclusivity and the salon becomes a branded service location. This means that not only will the PLB name be on the door to the salon, WTS will implement the brand’s standards and protocols.
Paul Labrecque's creative director will install its education programme and recruit and train hairdressers for that facility, while Paul Labrecque himself will also make periodic appearances at this type of salon for events.
The new alliance will allow WTS to compete in the salon market and will allow PLB to enter other markets in the US and internationally, at a handful of locations.
“My goal for this company is to expand the reach of the brand and to partner with facilities that feel the same way about five-star customer service as we do," said Brian Cantor, founder and CEO of PLB.
“It’s not about a mass roll-out for us,” he continued. “Our commitment to WTS is about getting our products into the right hands. WTS can achieve this on an international scale at the luxury end of the hospitality sector.
“During the Rittenhouse Hotel development I was impressed with how thorough WTS was and with the attention to detail paid by the WTS team. This level of perfectionism gave me the confidence to move forward with this initiative.”
WTS International can be found by clicking this link.
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