Squeeze CEO and Co-founder Brittany Driscoll, a former DryBar executive, opened the first Squeeze massage spa in 2019 in Los Angeles.
At Squeeze, the massage therapists aren’t salespeople. They’re not trying to push extra services on clients to get them to spend more, like other spas are known to do. Instead, customers can select all their preferences on the Squeeze app while booking, CEO and Co-founder Brittany Driscoll said.
“It’s really at the fingertips as a consumer,” Driscoll said. “A lot of people’s favorite part is post massage, like Uber and Postmates, you pay, rate, tip and review all at your leisure. You’re not standing in a clunky checkout line, no one’s asking you about tipping. You get to stay in that relaxed state of mind.”
Squeeze first opened in 2019 in Los Angeles. Driscoll, a former DryBar executive, started the brand with DryBar Founders Michael Landau and Alli Webb. Squeeze has a membership model, with options for one 50-minute massage a month ($95) or one 80-minute massage a month ($125). Non-members pay more for the same services.
The brand tries to create a luxurious experience at more affordable prices than say, a fancy hotel spa. Guests can personalize nearly every part of their massage without upcharges, including different types of therapies, like prenatal and deep tissue. The experience starts in the lounge, where customers can help themselves to water, tea and almonds. Guests can also choose between four aromatherapy scents and six different mood playlists. Once they’re ready for the massage to begin, there’s a start button in the room so the masseuse knows it’s OK to come in.
“This is really meant to be a feel-good experience through and through,” Driscoll said.
The massage franchise will have eight spas open by the end of this year and 30 expected by the end of 2024. Its growth goals, though, are lofty ones: 300 to 500 stores open in the next five to seven years.
Nearly every part of the massage experience at Squeeze is customizable, including the scent, music and style of massage.
“The good news is with our DryBar experience, we definitely know what it takes to build a robust system to support franchisees and their teams,” Driscoll said. DryBar ended 2022 with 155 units systemwide. “While we are an emerging brand, our systems are really set up like an established one.”
Squeeze implemented a comprehensive training, onboarding and support program for its new franchisees and used an 11-month pause at the beginning the COVID-19 pandemic to “cross out Ts and dot our Is, make sure that we were really set up and established for when we could really hit ‘go’ again,” Driscoll said.
The investment required to open a Squeeze franchise ranges from $493,623 to $662,728. Squeeze’s first location in Studio City, California, reported revenue of $1.6 million in its first year in the company’s Item 19. EBITDA at the end of the first year was $89,512. By March 31, 2022, the location had 790 members.
Squeeze is hardly the first massage brand to expand with a franchising model. Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa grew its systemwide sales last year to $640 million, up 14.8 percent over 2021. Other major players include Elements Massage—under the WellBiz Brands umbrella, which also owns DryBar, Radiance Holdings subsidiary Woodhouse Spa, 100-plus unit Massage Heights and MassageLuXe.
Related: Hand & Stone Expands With Conversion of 23 Massage Green Spas
Squeeze looks for owners who have operating and people management experience. “At the end of the day, we’re in the people industry,” Driscoll said. “It’s really important to us that we find leaders who understand how to motivate and connect with people and have a passion for wellness and impacting their community.”
One Squeeze franchisee is Laura Ganann, who operates one spa in Arkansas. A former nurse, Ganann worked at Wal-Mart corporate before signing on to open a Squeeze location last year.
She was drawn to Squeeze in her search for a spa franchise because she appreciated the brand’s modern approach to massage therapy. “Once I got in touch with the team and really started working with them—because I had explored a couple of other franchises in this space—I just saw an immediate difference with the way that they were connecting to me as a potential franchisee,” she said.
The spa opened August 11. Ganann has a general manager to run the location, but she works in house a few times a week.
“It’s been going really well. We’ve got a really strong team,” Ganann said. “It’s been very gratifying to see the way the community has responded.”