USA. XpresSpa posted a +11.6% year-on-year increase in total revenue in 2016, to US$43.3 million.
FORM Holdings Corporation completed the acquisition of the airport spa business just before Christmas (23 December). The deal was initially announced in August.
In a shareholder update on Monday (23 January), FORM noted that the introduction of several strategic initiatives in the second half of the year led to improved revenue and profitability at XpresSpa.
Same store comparable sales grew +7.6% overall in 2016, but there was a significant difference between the first and second halves of the year (-1.6% compared to +12% following the implementation of initiatives).
“We intend to grow XpresSpa’s revenue by attempting to improve same store revenue in existing stores and by continuing to open new stores throughout the world,” FORM commented.
It said strategies would include focusing on the retention and recruitment of in-store staff; updating point of sale and technology infrastructure to optimise efficiencies and labour at the store level; and implementing marketing efforts. ‘XpresSpa 2.0’ will also be rolled out, which the company said has an “updated aesthetic and optimises the use of space in the storefronts, while clearly communicating the company’s mission of delivering a great spa experience in 30 minutes or less”.
There are currently five new XpresSpa locations scheduled to open in 2017, and the company is participating in 13 RFPs for additional locations.
FORM noted that 25 additional RFPs were scheduled to come out in 2017, and said it was planning to “explore a franchising model to penetrate secondary and tertiary airport markets”.
