Manhasset Woman Opens Spa

A sense of tranquility permeates the new Hand & Stone Massage and Facial Spa at 987 Port Washington Boulevard. 

With its soft lighting, earth-tone painted walls, and soothing music, it’s easy to see why on a recent Friday morning, new and established customers dropped in to learn when they could schedule a massage or facial.   

Owner Rosalia Yarrington takes it all in stride, making visitors feel welcome.  To Yarrington, relaxation is essential.  

“Everyone needs a way to de-stress and re-energize,” she said.  

Contradictory as it may seem, relaxation is the reason she went into business.   

A former corporate accountant, Yarrington, a Manhasset resident, had stepped off the career ladder to raise her three children, now 13, 11 and 8. As they became more independent, Yarrington looked toward entrepreneurship. She researched franchise opportunities, looking for a turnkey operation she could get behind, that also provided franchisees full support.   

Hand & Stone resonated. She liked its health and wellness concept.  And she liked that the company “was down-to-earth, and responsive” to questions and the corporate office “treated us the way we wanted to be treated.” She also likes the franchisor’s openness to suggestions.    

“They offer guidance to be successful. It’s not just pay fees, and they forget you,” she said. “Support is there.”   

Still, Yarrington has already faced challenges.   

Among the biggest: Hurricane Sandy, which hit as Yarrington was preparing to launch the business, which opened in December 2012. 

“It was a mad rush before the holidays,” she recalled, adding that she had to navigate setbacks compounded by the fact that there was no power for two weeks. “If you can get through that, you can get through anything,” she said.  

That perseverance paid off. The spa has nine rooms for facials and massage, and includes a couples’ room that also serves as a spot for mother-daughter treatments or where friends can socialize during mini-treatments.   

Services include peppermint scalp massage, mini facials, mini cold stone treatment, hand treatments and hot towel foot treatments. Facial and massage fees start at $49.95.  Yarrington said that all of the therapists she’s hired are fully licensed and “trained in Hand and Stone protocols.”       

Now Yarrington is working to market the spa’s mini-treatments to those who frequent the shops on Port Blvd, especially parents dropping their kids off for music or dance lessons nearby – a ready market, considering Wright Music, Dance Arts Centre and Bach to Rock are all in the immediate vicinity.   

As for its New Jersey corporate offices, Hand & Stone is looking to grow regionally by adding 10 additional locations on Long Island. According to handandstonefranchise.com, total single unit investment “can be as low as $300,000,” and the company has a number of financing options to help would-be franchisees get started.   

Meanwhile in Port Washington, Yarrington hopes clients find a sense of family at Hand & Stone. To that end, she says her 10 employees are doing their part, including licensed therapist Rosemarie Friedman, who had worked in Long Beach before being displaced by Sandy.   

“I’m helping a new business get started,” Friedman said. “I’m making a new family.”